Product Code Database
Saradananda (23 December 1865 – 19 August 1927), also known as Swami Saradananda, was born as Sarat Chandra Chakravarty in 1865, and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. He was the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, a post which he held until his death in 1927. He established the Udbodhan house in the Bagbazar area of Calcutta, which was built primarily for the stay of Sri Sarada Devi in Calcutta, from where he used to publish the Bengali magazine Udbodhan. There he wrote Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga in Bengali, on the life of Ramakrishna, which was translated into English as Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master. He is believed to be reincarnation of Saint Peter (Direct apostle of Jesus) and he allegedly went into Samadhi when he was in the Saint Peter Church and said that "I remembered my past" and wrote in his diary that "Saint Peter again."
After his initiation according to the customs of the Hindu Brahmin caste, he worshipped regularly in the family shrine. The Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna (1943), published by Advaita Ashrama, Mayawati. He sometimes would give away his personal belongings to the poor and needy. Sarat Chandra helped the ill, even if they had contagious diseases. RKM Fiji He nursed a poor maid servant who was left to die by her master as she suffered from cholera, and also performed her last rites when she died.Swami Chetanananda, They Lived with God, Vedanta Society of St. Louis, St. Louis, 1989.
As he grew up, he came under the influence of Brahmo leader Keshab Chandra Sen. He began to be actively associated with the Brahmo Samaj. In 1882, he passed the school-leaving examination and was admitted to St. Xaviers College.
In October 1883 Sarat and Shashi went to Dakshineswar to meet Ramakrishna, who was speaking to a general audience on the subject of marriage and renunciation. Sarat visited Dakshineswar temple to meet Ramakrishna every Thursday and as he got more closely acquainted with him, he began to get directions on spiritual practices. On one occasion, the master had asked him, "How would you like to realize God?". The disciple replied, "I would not like to see any particular form of God in meditation. I want to see him manifested in all creatures of the world."
Sarat passed the First Arts examination in 1885. His father wanted him to study medicine. However, he gave it up and devoted his time in nursing Ramakrishna, first in Shyampukur and then in Cossipore garden house, when the latter was critically ill. After the death of Ramakrishna, Sarat at first came back to his house but then joined the Baranagar Math along with his other brother disciples, accompanied by his cousin Shashi.
On Narendranath's recommendation, Sarat joined Calcutta Medical College to study medicine. He gave it up on hearing about Ramakrishna's illness and joined Narendra and a group of young devotees to nurse him.
When he started the Ramakrishna Mission, Vivekananda made Sarat or Saradananda, its first secretary. After the death of Swami Brahmananda, the first president of Ramakrishna Math and Mission, when it was proposed to make Saradananda the next president he declined on the ground that he had been made secretary by Vivekananda and would continue in that post.
After the young disciples took formal Sannyas or renunciation, Sarat was given the name "Saradananda". He travelled to Puri and then to Northern India, including Varanasi, Ayodhya and Rishikesh. He also travelled to Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, the three sacred places of pilgrimage on the Himalayas. In the course of this pilgrimage he had to sometimes go without food and even without shelter, often finding himself in perilous situation.
After visiting Kedarnath, Tunganath and Badrinath, in 1890 Saradananda came to Almora and took up residence in the house of a devotee, Lala Badrinath Shah. He met Vivekananda there, and together they started for Garhwal Himalaya. From there he came to Rajpur near Mussoorie and met Turiyananda, another brother disciple with whom he had gone to Kedarnath. He then went to Rishikesh and there at Kankhal met Swami Brahmananda, or Rakhal Maharaj, another brother disciple. After that, he first went to Meerut to meet Vivekananda and then to Delhi along with him, where the later separated from his brother disciples. Only after six years, Saradananda met Vivekananda again; on his bidding, Saradananda went to London to preach Vedanta.
From Delhi, he went to Benaras and stayed there for some time, met Swami Abhedananda, another brother disciple, and also initiated a young monk, who was later named as Swami Sacchidananda. He fell ill with blood dysentery in Benares and came back to the Baranagar monastery in 1891. Subsequently, after recovering he traveled to Jayrambati, the birthplace of Sri Sarada Devi, where she was staying. Later he came back to Calcutta and the monastery of Ramakrishna shifted to Alambazar, a place near Dakshineswar in 1892.
In 1893 the news reached the brothers of the success of Vivekananda in the Parliament of the World's Religions, in Chicago. Vivekananda then called for the participation of his brother disciples in his mission of preaching Vedanta to the West and raising money for welfare activities in India. Saradananda responded to his call and traveled for London in 1896.
In 1899, plague broke out in Calcutta and Ramakrishna Mission organised relief. Saradananda was involved in relief work with the help of Sister Nivedita and other brother monks of the order.
In 1899, he traveled to Gujarat along with Swami Turiyananda to collect funds for the Mission and extensively toured various parts including Ahmedabad, Junagarh, Bhavnagar etc. He gave lectures in Hindi.
After Vivekananda's second departure to West, he also started training young monks.
In December 1899 he went to Dhaka, Barisal and Narayanganj on an invitation and there stayed in the house of Ashwini Kumar Dutta. He also gave many lectures.
After his return to Calcutta, he became interested in the Tantrika form of worship under the guidance of his uncle Ishwar Chandra Chakravarty. After this experience he wrote a book "Bharate Shakti Puja" or "The worship of divine mother in India".
In 1902, after Vivekananda's death, Saradananda took up the job of managing day-to-day affairs of Belur Math and also that of editing and publishing Udbodhan, a Bengali magazine started by the former. He wrote articles, arranged for funding and supervised operations. Gradually, the financial health of the magazine was restored. He constructed a house for the holy mother by taking a loan and to repay the loan started writing his magnum opus "Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga" or "Ramakrishna, the Great Master", a biography and life of Ramakrishna. The Udbodhan office started in the new building towards 1908.
In 1909 two co-accused in Maniktola Bomb Case, Devavrata Bose and Sachindranath Sen, came to join the Ramakrishna order, giving up their political activities. Despite opposition from the senior monks and the risk of affronting the British Government, Saradananda took full responsibility and accepted both of them into the order and met highly placed Government officials for explaining his position.
In 1913 under him, Ramakrishna Mission started relief operations when a major flood broke out in Burdwan district of Bengal, collecting funds and organizing relief work.
In 1916, he went for a pilgrimage to Gaya, Benares, Vrindaban and returned after 2 months.
After the death of Sarada Devi in 1920 and Swami Brahmananda in 1922, Saradananda gradually withdrew from active work. His primary engagement at this time was the construction of a temple for Sarada Devi in Jayrambati, and another one in Belur Math, on the place where she was cremated. The temple in Belur Math was constructed in 1921 and that in Jairambati was commissioned in April 1923.
The Ramakrishna Mission Convention at Belur Math was held in 1926, a meeting of the monks of Ramakrishna Math and Mission Centres from all over the world. Saradananda gave the welcome address, in which he put up a warning note of the dangers of complacency and exhorted the monks to stick to the ideals of the founding members. At the end of the convention, he appointed a committee to deal with the day-to-day work of the mission. After the convention, he almost retired from an active life, devoting more and more time to meditation.
There is a building named Saradananda Bhavana at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur and a dormitory named Saradananda Dham at Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Deoghar, which are consecrated in his holy name.
|
|
