Endearingly known as ‘Holy Mother’, Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, was born on 22 December 1853 in a poor Brahmin family in Jayrambati, a village adjoining Kamarpukur in West Bengal.  Her father,Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay, was a pious and kind-hearted person, and her mother, Shyama Sundari Devi, was a loving and hard-working woman.

Marriage
As a child Sarada was devoted to God, and spent most of her time helping her mother in various household chores like caring for younger children, looking after cattle and carrying food to her father and others engaged in work in the field.  She had no formal schooling, but managed to learn the Bengali alphabet.  When she was about six years old, she was married to Sri Ramakrishna, according to the custom prevalent in India in those days.  However, after the event, she continued to live with her parents, while Sri Ramakrishna lived a God-intoxicated life at Dakshineshwar.

Visit to Dakshineshwar
At the age of eighteen she walked all the way to Dakshineshwar to meet her husband.  Sri Ramakrishna, who had immersed himself in the intense practice of several spiritual disciplines for more than twelve years, had reached the highest state of realization in which he saw God in all beings.  He received Sarada Devi with great affection, and allowed her to stay with him.  He taught her how to lead a spiritual life while discharging her household duties.  They led absolutely pure lives, and Sarada Devi served Sri Ramakrishna as his devoted wife and disciple, while remaining a virgin nun and following the spiritual path.

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