As The Apostles Saw Her
Book Details
Author(s)Swami Raghaveshananda
PublisherSri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
ISBN / ASINB00H1TCCTU
ISBN-13978B00H1TCCT9
Sales Rank1,662,254
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
Only twelve Rishis could recognize Sri Ramachandra. All cannot recognize an incarnation of God. Some take Him for an ordinary man, some for a holy person and only a few recognize Him as an incarnation†says Sri Ramakrishna. To make it more clear he illustrates it with a story in his own inimitable style.
A rich man said to his servant: ‘Take this diamond to the market and let me know, how different people price it. First of all, take it to a brinjal seller.’ The brinjal seller examined it, turning it over in the palm of his hand and said, ‘Brother, I can give nine seers of brinjals for it.’ ‘Friend,’ said the servant, ‘can you give a little more? Say, ten seers?’ The brinjal seller replied, ‘No, I have already quoted the right price. You can give it to me if that price suits you. ‘The servant laughed.
He went back to his master and said: ‘Sir, he would give me only nine seers of brinjals and not one more’. The master smiled and said: ‘Now take it to the cloth-dealer. The other man deals only in brinjals. What does he know about a diamond? The cloth- dealer is more sophisticated. Let us see how much he offers for it.’ The servant went to the cloth-dealer and said: ‘Will you buy this? How much will you pay for it?’ The merchant said: ‘Yes, it looks good. I can make a nice ornament out of it. I will give you nine hundred rupees for it.’ ‘Brother,’ said the servant, ‘offer a little more and I will sell it to you. Give me at least a thousand rupees.’ The cloth-dealer said: ‘Friend, don’t press me for more. I have offered more than its worth. I cannot give a rupee more.’ Laughing, the servant returned to his master and said: ‘He won’t give a rupee more than nine hundred.’
The master said with a laugh ‘Now take it to a jeweller. Let us see what he has to say.’ The servant went to a jeweller. The jeweller glanced at the diamond and said at once, ‘I will give one hundred thousand rupees for it.’
This story applies well to Sri Sarada Devi. Even though Sri Ramakrishna time and again repeated that Sarada was none other than Lakshmi and Saraswathi, very few people recognized Her as such. It was because She never gave any due about Her divinity except on few occasions. She lived a life characterized by Self-effacement. One did not see any obvious sign of greatness in Her neither the innumerable and effortless Samadhis like Sri Ramakrishna, nor fiery lectures like Swami Vivekananda. Hers was an ordinary life like any village woman - tidying rooms, cooking, preparing cow-dung cakes, cleaning the plates after food, scouring vessels, nursing patients, serving relatives day and night etc.
Only people who understood Her greatness in the early years were The Apostles of Sri Ramakrishna.
A humble effort has been made to compile the utterances of the Apostles on Her. This will help as an easy guide for a genuine seeker trying to understand Her Divinity.
A rich man said to his servant: ‘Take this diamond to the market and let me know, how different people price it. First of all, take it to a brinjal seller.’ The brinjal seller examined it, turning it over in the palm of his hand and said, ‘Brother, I can give nine seers of brinjals for it.’ ‘Friend,’ said the servant, ‘can you give a little more? Say, ten seers?’ The brinjal seller replied, ‘No, I have already quoted the right price. You can give it to me if that price suits you. ‘The servant laughed.
He went back to his master and said: ‘Sir, he would give me only nine seers of brinjals and not one more’. The master smiled and said: ‘Now take it to the cloth-dealer. The other man deals only in brinjals. What does he know about a diamond? The cloth- dealer is more sophisticated. Let us see how much he offers for it.’ The servant went to the cloth-dealer and said: ‘Will you buy this? How much will you pay for it?’ The merchant said: ‘Yes, it looks good. I can make a nice ornament out of it. I will give you nine hundred rupees for it.’ ‘Brother,’ said the servant, ‘offer a little more and I will sell it to you. Give me at least a thousand rupees.’ The cloth-dealer said: ‘Friend, don’t press me for more. I have offered more than its worth. I cannot give a rupee more.’ Laughing, the servant returned to his master and said: ‘He won’t give a rupee more than nine hundred.’
The master said with a laugh ‘Now take it to a jeweller. Let us see what he has to say.’ The servant went to a jeweller. The jeweller glanced at the diamond and said at once, ‘I will give one hundred thousand rupees for it.’
This story applies well to Sri Sarada Devi. Even though Sri Ramakrishna time and again repeated that Sarada was none other than Lakshmi and Saraswathi, very few people recognized Her as such. It was because She never gave any due about Her divinity except on few occasions. She lived a life characterized by Self-effacement. One did not see any obvious sign of greatness in Her neither the innumerable and effortless Samadhis like Sri Ramakrishna, nor fiery lectures like Swami Vivekananda. Hers was an ordinary life like any village woman - tidying rooms, cooking, preparing cow-dung cakes, cleaning the plates after food, scouring vessels, nursing patients, serving relatives day and night etc.
Only people who understood Her greatness in the early years were The Apostles of Sri Ramakrishna.
A humble effort has been made to compile the utterances of the Apostles on Her. This will help as an easy guide for a genuine seeker trying to understand Her Divinity.





