Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play (English Edition)

Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play is the story of Sarada Devi (1853–1920), the wife of the Indian sage Ramakrishna. The God-man of the nineteenth century, Ramakrishna is known worldwide for demonstrating religious tolerance and respect for all traditions. He was truly a spiritual phenomenon, and his disciple Swami Vivekananda was among the first to bring the wisdom of yoga and Vedanta to the West. This book describes how Sarada Devi, known affectionately as “Holy Mother,” carried out her husband’s spiritual ministry for 34 years after his passing. Her life is a glowing example of Vedanta in practice, as exemplified by her final message: “My child, if you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others. See your own faults. Learn to make the world your own. No one is a stranger, my child; the whole world is your own.”

REVIEWS
In this volume we find reverent, lovely recollections from those who knew Sarada Devi intimately as her companions and disciples. We experience the panorama of a human life, a woman’s life, fully lived a century and more ago,and also the story of a spiritual journey and realization that can edify readers even today. Sarada Devi’s life can be taken to demonstrate practical Vedanta: how to balance contemplative and active life, the ideals of monastics and householders.
- Francis X. Clooney, SJ Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard University

This is an account of one of the most extraordinary spiritual lives of modern India. Swami Chetanananda has gathered materials from a wide range of sources and woven them together in a compelling, highly readable biography of Sri Sarada Devi. This book combines authentic scholarship with deep spiritual understanding of the events. Readers from the East and the West will be gripped and transformed by the narrative.
-Lance E. Nelson, University of San Diego

Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play is a massive undertaking of nearly five years of careful research, based on many past biographies in English and Bengali, eyewitness accounts, and reminiscences. Swami Chetanananda has not simply written a biography of Sarada Devi. This book is also a hagiography that devotees of the Ramakrishna movement will treasure for many years to come, and rightly so.
-Gerald James Larson, Rabindranath Tagore Professor Emeritus, Indiana University, Bloomington

Sarada Devi was one of India’s most unlikely saints, an unassuming Bengali village girl who blossomed into an epitome of spirit. This is the remarkable story of Sarada’s transformation and her extraordinary contributions. Superb!
-Linda Johnsen, author, Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India