Gauri Ma
Encyclopedia
Gauri Ma born Mridani, was a prominent Indian
disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, companion of Sri Sarada Devi and founder of Kolkata's
Saradeswari Ashram
.
and was called Mridani or Rudrani. Mridani's father was Parvaticharan Chattopadhyaya and her mother, Giribala Devi. Her mother Giribala had many spiritual qualities, too. Of these, perhaps her greatest virtue was to be found in her dedicated service to the poor, the miserable, the afflicted, and the dependent. She was also well educated. Not only did she know her mother tongue, Bengali, and Sanskrit very well but she knew some English and Persian. She was a good poet. Two collections of her poems entitled Nama Saar and Vairagya Sangeet Mala had been published. They Lived with God
Even as a child she possessed a strong tendency toward Hindu
spirituality. By her thirteenth year, Gauri Ma had developed a distaste for marriage
, telling her mother, “I shall marry only that bridegroom who is immortal,” meaning she wished to marry Krishna
and no other.
When Gauri Ma was young she had received from a nun
a stone image of Sri Krishna. The nun told her, “This image of God is my all in all and is alive with Divine energy. He has fallen in love with you, so I am handing him over to you. My child, worship him. It will do good to you.” Gauri Ma accepted the gift and took the image of Sri Krishna as her husband. For the rest of her life she carried the stone image with her and served him lovingly.Gauri Ma received initiation from Sri Ramakrishna at an early age in Ghola.
When Gauri Ma's marriage was arranged, she refused to marry and with her mother's help she left the house to escape getting married. She spent her time in practising austerities and in worshipping her chosen deity.
In 1875 Gauri Ma left with relatives and neighbors to go on pilgrimage
to Gangasagar. On the third day of her stay, she disappeared into a crowd of pilgrims
, disguising herself as a nun
to evade recognition. She began traveling by train and by foot to holy sites and monasteries throughout India
. During her years of pilgrimage Gauri Ma practiced severe austerities such as fasting
, observing silence, and long hours of meditation
. She also spent a great deal of time studying the Hindu scriptures.
For nearly three years Gauri Ma practiced austerity and went on pilgrimages in that part of the country. She spent time at many famous places of pilgrimage: Devaprayag, Jwalamukhi
, Amarnath
, Yamunotri
, and Gangotri. She went to Brindavan and then through Rajasthan to Saurastra and visited holy places of Hindus like Pushkar
, Prabhas, Sudampuri, and finally Dwarka
. She finally returned to Vrindavan from where she was finally taken back to Calcutta by one of her relatives. In the course of this pilgrimage Gauri Ma met Radharaman Bose, the father of Balaram Bose
, one of the foremost disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
After coming back to Calcutta and meeting her mother she went to other holy places like Puri
, Remuna, Sakshigopal, Bhuvaneshwar, Navadweep and Nadia
. She then went to Benaras and met Trailanga Swami
.
. When she met Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma was only twenty five years old. However it was also believed by her that she was initiated by Sri Ramakrishna in her childhood when she was only ten years old, through mysterious circumstance.
Gauri Ma lived as a companion to Sarada Devi
, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna, whenever she was at Dakshineswar
. Gauri Ma also sometimes cooked for her Guru Ramakrishna
, and sang to him. Ramakrishna
had a very high opinion of her, declaring, “Gauri is a perfect soul – a gopi
of Vrindavan
.”
Ramakrishna
encouraged Gauri Ma to settle down from her life of pilgrimage and devote herself to working for the betterment of women in India. The women of India
’s plight was great, and Ramakrishna
wished her to work to improve their education and development, both intellectually and spiritually. Gauri Ma protested, that she had neither the proper training nor education for such a feat. Ramakrishna
replied, “I am pouring the water. You knead the clay. .”
Swami Vivekananda
echoed Ramakrishna
’s praise for Gauri Ma stating, “Where is Gauri Ma? We want a thousand such mothers with that noble stirring spirit.”
Gauri Ma was gently reminded by Sarada Devi
, “The Master (Ramakrishna
) said that your life was meant for serving women – the living goddess.”
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi once said. "A great soul is always a rarity, having hardly any parallel. Gaurdasi is one such soul."
Several years later, after she had begun her work serving women in accordance with the teachings and instructions of Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma went on a second tour of the South. On this second visit, she went to Sholapur as a guest of Sri Haripada and Srimati Indumati Mitra, disciples of Swami Vivekananda. From there she went to Pandharpur, Poona, Belgaum, and Bombay. At Poona she visited a girls' high school and a home for widows that had been founded by Professor Karve, where she had discussions with Professor Karve about the lives of widows in India. During the same trip Gauri Ma met and had several discussions with the renowned and highly respected Lady Ramabai Ranade. She also met the famous political leader Lokmanya Tilak and had several discussions with him. They Lived with God
When she took the monastic vow of renunciation or "Sannyas" and became a nun, she came to be known as Gourivrata Puri. Sarada Devi
affectionately called her Gaur Dasi.
was started by Gauri Ma on the banks of Ganga in Barrackpore
. Residence, board and instruction were free to unmarried, married and widowed women. Village girls also came in the afternoon. Saradeshwari Ashram had a modest and humble beginning. But gradually, with the help and encouragement of the local people and devotees from Calcutta, it began to expand in every possible way and had about twenty five students.Several of Sri Ramakrishna's dearest disciples – Vivekananda, Brahmananda, and Shivananda, came to visit the ashram.
After returning from his first visit to America
, Swami Vivekanada visited the ashram and told Gauri Ma, “I have talked to the western people about you, and shall take you there and show them what the type of women India
can produce.”
In 1911, the Ashram
moved to Kolkata
. Sarada Devi
often visited the ashram
, serving as an inspiration to those who were living there. Gradually, the number of residents of Saradeshwari Ashram increased to twenty-five, the number of students to seventy. In addition to receiving the usual education. students were taught both Sanskrit and English.
For thirteen years, the ashram
was located in rented houses, moving four times to accommodate its growing population. After raising funds, in 1924 a three-story permanent ashram
was constructed at its present location.. A large amount was donated for this purpose by Maharani Sarojbala Devi of Gauripur, Assam, who was a devotee of the holy mother Sri Sarada Devi. One of the regular donors to the cause of the school was Sarat Chandra Bose
, the brother of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She also met Gandhiji and Chittaranjan Das
.
Since 1895 the ashram as a convent has made it possible for many women to lead dedicated spiritual lives. Over two hundred nuns presently live at three centers, the headquarters at 26 Gauri Mata Sarani, Calcutta, India, 70004, and branch centers at Navadwip and Giridih. Each center has a free girls' school, boarding for students, and accommodations for women, whether as guests or women in need. Classes are mostly taken by the sannyasinis and brahmacharinis. The administration of the institution is entirely in the hands of women. At the base is the Matrisangha, comprising the sannyasinis of the order, and at the apex are the trustees, appointed under the trust established by the revered Gauri Mata. The trustees are assisted by an executive committee and an advisory board, the membership of which is held by men and women. They Lived with God
, therefore, pursued programs of education that strived for the regeneration of womankind.
Gauri Ma carefully selected teachers for the ashram
who lived ideal lives of simplicity and purity, of high thinking, and who dedicated themselves to the cause of women. The Saradeswari Ashram
had four purposes: 1. To spread education among women according to the ideas of Hinduism
and society; 2. To organize women to be workers for the Ashram; 3. To give shelter to girls and widows in indigent circumstances but belonging to respectable families; 4. To help women in their endeavor to live decent and virtuous lives.
Being devoted to her cause and yet unattached, her view point on her work was, "Name and fame are like filth. Do your work with a detached attitude....When you go to serve others, if you find lurking in the corner of your heart any desire for praise or prestige, it is like committing suicide in your spiritual life." About Gauri Ma on Vedanta Scoiety, Atlanta
She detested name and fame and on one occasion after her school building was established she took apart the marble inscription because it contained her name in small letters.
Several notable incidents are ascribed to her, one of them being trying to save a drowning woman in Ganga while bathing, even when she did not know swimming herself. She also rescued a woman from being harassed and beaten by her in laws with the help of the local police.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, companion of Sri Sarada Devi and founder of Kolkata's
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
Saradeswari Ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
.
Early life
Gauri Ma was born in Sibpur, Howrah, IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and was called Mridani or Rudrani. Mridani's father was Parvaticharan Chattopadhyaya and her mother, Giribala Devi. Her mother Giribala had many spiritual qualities, too. Of these, perhaps her greatest virtue was to be found in her dedicated service to the poor, the miserable, the afflicted, and the dependent. She was also well educated. Not only did she know her mother tongue, Bengali, and Sanskrit very well but she knew some English and Persian. She was a good poet. Two collections of her poems entitled Nama Saar and Vairagya Sangeet Mala had been published. They Lived with God
Even as a child she possessed a strong tendency toward Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
spirituality. By her thirteenth year, Gauri Ma had developed a distaste for marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, telling her mother, “I shall marry only that bridegroom who is immortal,” meaning she wished to marry Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
and no other.
When Gauri Ma was young she had received from a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
a stone image of Sri Krishna. The nun told her, “This image of God is my all in all and is alive with Divine energy. He has fallen in love with you, so I am handing him over to you. My child, worship him. It will do good to you.” Gauri Ma accepted the gift and took the image of Sri Krishna as her husband. For the rest of her life she carried the stone image with her and served him lovingly.Gauri Ma received initiation from Sri Ramakrishna at an early age in Ghola.
When Gauri Ma's marriage was arranged, she refused to marry and with her mother's help she left the house to escape getting married. She spent her time in practising austerities and in worshipping her chosen deity.
In 1875 Gauri Ma left with relatives and neighbors to go on pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Gangasagar. On the third day of her stay, she disappeared into a crowd of pilgrims
Pilgrims
Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...
, disguising herself as a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
to evade recognition. She began traveling by train and by foot to holy sites and monasteries throughout India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. During her years of pilgrimage Gauri Ma practiced severe austerities such as fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
, observing silence, and long hours of meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
. She also spent a great deal of time studying the Hindu scriptures.
For nearly three years Gauri Ma practiced austerity and went on pilgrimages in that part of the country. She spent time at many famous places of pilgrimage: Devaprayag, Jwalamukhi
Jwalamukhi
Jwalamukhi was the pen name of Veeravalli Raghavacharyulu , who was an Indian poet, novelist, writer and political activist....
, Amarnath
Amarnath
Located in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and situated on Mount Amarnath, the Amarnath caves are one of the most famous shrines in Hinduism. Dedicated to the god Shiva, the shrine is said to be over 5,000 years old...
, Yamunotri
Yamunotri
Yamunotri is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna in Hinduism. It is situated at an altitude of in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand, India...
, and Gangotri. She went to Brindavan and then through Rajasthan to Saurastra and visited holy places of Hindus like Pushkar
Pushkar
Pushkar is a town in the Ajmer district in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is situated at 14 km North West from Ajmer at an average elevation of 510 metres , and is one of the five sacred dhams...
, Prabhas, Sudampuri, and finally Dwarka
Dwarka
Dwarka also spelled Dvarka, Dwaraka, and Dvaraka, is a city and a municipality of Jamnagar district in the Gujarat state in India. Dwarka , also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country...
. She finally returned to Vrindavan from where she was finally taken back to Calcutta by one of her relatives. In the course of this pilgrimage Gauri Ma met Radharaman Bose, the father of Balaram Bose
Balaram Bose
Balaram Bose was one of the prominent householder disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was the son of Radhamohan Bose. He is often referred in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna often visited his house and participated in Kirtana and other devotional functions...
, one of the foremost disciples of Sri Ramakrishna.
After coming back to Calcutta and meeting her mother she went to other holy places like Puri
Puri
Puri is district headquarter, a city situated about south of state capital Bhubaneswar, on the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal in the Indian state of Orissa. It is also known as Jagannath Puri after the Jagannath Temple . It is a holy city of the Hindus as a part of the Char Dham pilgrimages...
, Remuna, Sakshigopal, Bhuvaneshwar, Navadweep and Nadia
Nadia
Nadia is a female given name of Slavic / Eastern European origin. See Nadia .Nadia may refer to:-In sports:* Nadia Comăneci , Romanian Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast* Nadia Cortassa , Italian triathlete...
. She then went to Benaras and met Trailanga Swami
Trailanga Swami
Telang Swami was a Hindu yogi famed for his spiritual powers who lived in Varanasi, India. He is regarded as a legendary figure in Bengal, with many stories told about his yogic powers, longevity...
.
Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi
Gauri Ma first met Sri Ramakrishna through Balaram BoseBalaram Bose
Balaram Bose was one of the prominent householder disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He was the son of Radhamohan Bose. He is often referred in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. Ramakrishna often visited his house and participated in Kirtana and other devotional functions...
. When she met Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma was only twenty five years old. However it was also believed by her that she was initiated by Sri Ramakrishna in her childhood when she was only ten years old, through mysterious circumstance.
Gauri Ma lived as a companion to Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi , born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya , was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order...
, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna, whenever she was at Dakshineswar
Dakshineswar
Dakshineswar is a town in Barrackpore subdivision of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.-History:In 1847, Rani Rashmoni of Bengal began the construction of the famous Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Rani, who was a rich and pious widow of colonial Bengal had a divine revelation ordering her to...
. Gauri Ma also sometimes cooked for her Guru Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
, and sang to him. Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
had a very high opinion of her, declaring, “Gauri is a perfect soul – a gopi
Gopi
Gopi is a word of Sanskrit origin meaning 'cow-herd girl'. In Hinduism specifically the name gopi is used more commonly to refer to the group of cow herding girls famous within Vaishnava Theology for their unconditional devotion to Krishna as described in the stories of Bhagavata Purana and...
of Vrindavan
Vrindavan
Vrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...
.”
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
encouraged Gauri Ma to settle down from her life of pilgrimage and devote herself to working for the betterment of women in India. The women of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
’s plight was great, and Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
wished her to work to improve their education and development, both intellectually and spiritually. Gauri Ma protested, that she had neither the proper training nor education for such a feat. Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
replied, “I am pouring the water. You knead the clay. .”
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda , born Narendranath Dutta , was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Ramakrishna Paramahansa and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission...
echoed Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
’s praise for Gauri Ma stating, “Where is Gauri Ma? We want a thousand such mothers with that noble stirring spirit.”
Gauri Ma was gently reminded by Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi , born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya , was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order...
, “The Master (Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna
Ramakrishna , born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu...
) said that your life was meant for serving women – the living goddess.”
Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi once said. "A great soul is always a rarity, having hardly any parallel. Gaurdasi is one such soul."
Further Travels and pilgrimages
At the time of Sri Ramakrishna's demise, Gauri Ma was in Brindavan. She later met the holy mother Saradi Devi in Brindavan. She then went to a pilrimage in the Himalayas. She once again travelled extensively throughout India and went to Rameshwaram and KanyakumariKanyakumari
Kanyakumari is a town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also sometimes referred to as Cape Comorin. Located at the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, it is the geographical end of the Indian mainland. The district in Tamil Nadu where the town is located is called Kanyakumari...
Several years later, after she had begun her work serving women in accordance with the teachings and instructions of Sri Ramakrishna, Gauri Ma went on a second tour of the South. On this second visit, she went to Sholapur as a guest of Sri Haripada and Srimati Indumati Mitra, disciples of Swami Vivekananda. From there she went to Pandharpur, Poona, Belgaum, and Bombay. At Poona she visited a girls' high school and a home for widows that had been founded by Professor Karve, where she had discussions with Professor Karve about the lives of widows in India. During the same trip Gauri Ma met and had several discussions with the renowned and highly respected Lady Ramabai Ranade. She also met the famous political leader Lokmanya Tilak and had several discussions with him. They Lived with God
When she took the monastic vow of renunciation or "Sannyas" and became a nun, she came to be known as Gourivrata Puri. Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi , born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya , was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order...
affectionately called her Gaur Dasi.
Saradeswari Ashram
In 1895, the Saradeswari AshramAshram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
was started by Gauri Ma on the banks of Ganga in Barrackpore
Barrackpore
Barrackpore or Barrackpur is headquarters of Barrackpore subdivision in North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. The town was a military and administrative center under British rule, and was the scene of several acts of rebellion against Britain during the 19th century...
. Residence, board and instruction were free to unmarried, married and widowed women. Village girls also came in the afternoon. Saradeshwari Ashram had a modest and humble beginning. But gradually, with the help and encouragement of the local people and devotees from Calcutta, it began to expand in every possible way and had about twenty five students.Several of Sri Ramakrishna's dearest disciples – Vivekananda, Brahmananda, and Shivananda, came to visit the ashram.
After returning from his first visit to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Swami Vivekanada visited the ashram and told Gauri Ma, “I have talked to the western people about you, and shall take you there and show them what the type of women India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
can produce.”
In 1911, the Ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
moved to Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
. Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi
Sarada Devi , born Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya , was the wife and spiritual counterpart of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a nineteenth century mystic of Bengal. Sarada Devi is also reverentially addressed as the Holy Mother by the followers of the Ramakrishna monastic order...
often visited the ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
, serving as an inspiration to those who were living there. Gradually, the number of residents of Saradeshwari Ashram increased to twenty-five, the number of students to seventy. In addition to receiving the usual education. students were taught both Sanskrit and English.
For thirteen years, the ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
was located in rented houses, moving four times to accommodate its growing population. After raising funds, in 1924 a three-story permanent ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
was constructed at its present location.. A large amount was donated for this purpose by Maharani Sarojbala Devi of Gauripur, Assam, who was a devotee of the holy mother Sri Sarada Devi. One of the regular donors to the cause of the school was Sarat Chandra Bose
Sarat Chandra Bose
Sarat Chandra Bose was a barrister and Indian freedom fighter. He was the elder brother of Subhash Chandra Bose.-Early life:His forefathers had served the Afghan rulers of pre-Mughal Bengal with great distinction....
, the brother of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. She also met Gandhiji and Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das was an eminent Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement.-Personal life:...
.
Since 1895 the ashram as a convent has made it possible for many women to lead dedicated spiritual lives. Over two hundred nuns presently live at three centers, the headquarters at 26 Gauri Mata Sarani, Calcutta, India, 70004, and branch centers at Navadwip and Giridih. Each center has a free girls' school, boarding for students, and accommodations for women, whether as guests or women in need. Classes are mostly taken by the sannyasinis and brahmacharinis. The administration of the institution is entirely in the hands of women. At the base is the Matrisangha, comprising the sannyasinis of the order, and at the apex are the trustees, appointed under the trust established by the revered Gauri Mata. The trustees are assisted by an executive committee and an advisory board, the membership of which is held by men and women. They Lived with God
Educational Ideas
Education, to Gauri Ma, was a national duty. She taught that if the training of women is neglected, the whole nation suffers. A mother’s intelligence, love and insight nurture the child. The Saradeswari AshramAshram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
, therefore, pursued programs of education that strived for the regeneration of womankind.
Gauri Ma carefully selected teachers for the ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
who lived ideal lives of simplicity and purity, of high thinking, and who dedicated themselves to the cause of women. The Saradeswari Ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
had four purposes: 1. To spread education among women according to the ideas of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and society; 2. To organize women to be workers for the Ashram; 3. To give shelter to girls and widows in indigent circumstances but belonging to respectable families; 4. To help women in their endeavor to live decent and virtuous lives.
Being devoted to her cause and yet unattached, her view point on her work was, "Name and fame are like filth. Do your work with a detached attitude....When you go to serve others, if you find lurking in the corner of your heart any desire for praise or prestige, it is like committing suicide in your spiritual life." About Gauri Ma on Vedanta Scoiety, Atlanta
She detested name and fame and on one occasion after her school building was established she took apart the marble inscription because it contained her name in small letters.
Several notable incidents are ascribed to her, one of them being trying to save a drowning woman in Ganga while bathing, even when she did not know swimming herself. She also rescued a woman from being harassed and beaten by her in laws with the help of the local police.