One day at Dakshineswar Sri Ramakrishna in a state of ecstasy sat on the lap of a young man and said afterwards, “I was testing how much weight you could bear.” The young man was Sharat Chandra Chakravarti, later Swami Saradananda, and the burden he had to bear as the chief organizer of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in its manifold activities, for nearly three decades, required super human strength. He succeeded because with implicit faith in the Master he could maintain his equanimity under trying circumstances and could tell all around him, “The Master will set everything right. Be at rest.”

He came of a rich and orthodox Brahmin family, living in Amhert Street, Calcutta. Endowed with extraordinary intelligence and strong physique, his deep religious nature expressed itself even in his early boyhood. He was extremely courteous and incapable of using any harsh language to anybody or of hurting anyone’s feelings in any way. He had a very soft and feeling heart with an innate spirit of service and lost no opportunity to help his poor class friends as far his means permitted. Relations and friends, acquaintances and neighbours, servants and housemaids – whoever fell ill, Sharat Chandra was sure to be by their side, nursing them.

In October 1883, Sharat with his cousin Shashi – later Swami Ramakrishnananda – went to Dakshineswar for the first time to see Sri Ramakrishna. At the first sight, Sri Ramakrishna recognized Sharat and Shashi as his own. This meeting proved to be a turning point in their lives. The Master’s stirring words, his charming personality, his vigilant training and his all-encompassing love began to give direction to his spiritual development. Friendship with Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) gave a further fillip to his spiritual and monastic aspirations. Unhesitatingly giving up his medical studies, he was one of the few important disciples of Sri Ramakrishna who nursed him during his fatal illness. After his passing away, Sharat too joined the select band of monastic under the leadership of Narendra and became ‘Swami Saradananda’.

Like his other monastic brothers, Swami Saradananda also spent a few years as an itinerant monk practicing severe austerities. When Swamiji’s work in the West made headway, he was in need of an assistant, and the choice finally fell upon Swami Saradananda. He first went o London and later to New York. Everywhere his dignity of bearing, gentle courtesy, the readiness to meet questions of all kinds, and, above all, the spiritual height from which he could talk, won for him a large number of friends, admirers and devotees. After having stayed in America for two and a half years, he was recalled to India by Swamiji to take over the execution of the responsibility of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission as its general secretary (executive head) in which capacity he served till his last day. With the vision of a seer, Swamiji knew that Saradananda was endowed with remarkable devotion and steadiness, sound judgement and a tender heart, and also was adept in the power of organization.

Swami Saradananda was a born leader. He always considered the youngest member of the Order his equal and was perfectly just and democratic in his dealings. He considered no work as beneath him and in the absence of workers would offer to share the domestic chores along with the younger members. He never judged anyone or anything without considering all sides. Hasty judgements or decisions were foreign to his nature. His life was extremely disciplined and he followed his routine strictly. Swami Saradananda had the remarkable capacity to remain calm in the most trying circumstances and even in the face of imminent danger. His equanimity and great self-control could freeze anybody’s anger. Seeing this trait in him, Swami Vivekananda used to say jocosely, “Sharat’s is the blood of a fish; it will never warm up.”

The way he served the Holy Mother Sarada Devi was a model par excellence for anyone to emulate. Swami Saradnanda felt it was his first duty to look after her comfort. To him the Holy Mother was actually the manifestation of the Divine Mother in human form, and he would make no distinction between her and the Master. In order to build a residence for her at Calcutta, which would also house the office of the Udbodhan, the Bengali monthly of the Ramakrishna Order, he laboured hard. To repay he debts he had incurred in doing so, he wrote the monumental work ‘Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga’ (‘Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master’). The Bhagavad Gita says, “Great is the man who controls his senses with his mind and engages them in selfless actions” (3.7). Amidst the hectic surroundings and crowds, Swami Saradnanda continued unceasingly for days his serious writing project. He was a glowing example of a person who could keep his mind in God, or the Self, and at the same time his hands at work. In spite of his diverse activities and heavy duties in connection with the management of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, the swami poured his heart and soul into serving the Holy Mother. The Holy Mother had immense affection and confidence in him. Swami Saradananda was the very image of humility and called himself the Mother’s “doorkeeper,” and he felt happy about the position.

His heart always bled for the poor and the afflicted. For relief work the Swami would arrange for raising funds and under his guidance the Ramakrishna Mission usually took the field promptly whenever there were natural calamities. He hid his own physical ailments from all and bore everything with wonderful fortitude to continue with his work, his mission, with utmost sincerity and devotion. “Service to man is service to God.” This message of Swamiji was exemplified in Swami Saradananda’s life. He acted as the Mother of the Order. Whenever he heard of anybody lying ill, Swami Saradananda was sure to see if all arrangements for the treatment were made and be by the bedside of the sick. Such was the magnanimity of his heart!

Towards the end of his life, the one task that received his most serious attention was the construction of a temple at Jayrambati in sacred memory of the Holy Mother. He would raise money and supply supervising hands for the work and keep himself acquainted with the minutest details of the construction. The beautiful temple – emblem of Swami Saradananda’s devotion to the Holy Mother – was dedicated on 19th April 1923.

Swami Saradananda was also instrumental in successfully convening the Ramakrishna Mission Convention at Belur Math in 1926. It was mainly a meeting of the monks of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission centres – about one hundred in number, sprinkled over the whole of India as well as outside India - in order to compare notes and devise future plans of work. The by-product of the convention was the appointment of a Working Committee for the control and conduct of all the activities of the organization. The far-sighted Swami Saradananda realized that Sri Ramakrishna’s direct disciples were passing away one after another, so the next generation should come forward to shoulder the responsibility. This Working Committee was evidently his last legacy to the Order. After that he did not take an active part in its operation and silently prepared for his final departure.

Life inspires life. Swami Saradananda led a pure, serene, dedicated, and harmonious life, a source of inspiration for future generations. In his early days with Sri Ramakrishna, the young Sharat asked a blessing that he might see God in every being, not knowing that what he asked for was the last word in spiritual attainment. The Master blessed him, saying, “Yes, you will attain it.” In time, the Master’s blessing bore fruit, and all who came in contact with him were nurtured unreservedly by his loving care. He was humble and respectful towards one and all. Hundreds of weary souls would come to him in search of peace and solace. Whoever came in touch with him could not help becoming nobler and spiritually richer. Swami Saradananda was the living embodiment of the ideal of the Gita in the modern age. To see him was to know how a man could be “Jivanmukta” – liberated-in-life, and in the language of the Gita, “Sthitaprajna”- steadfast in wisdom. He was alike in heat and cold, praise and blame. His life was tuned to such a high pitch that he was beyond the reach of such trifle. In spite of all his activities, one could tangibly see that his was the case of a Yogi “whose happiness is within, whose relaxation is within, and whose light is within”. He harmonized in his life Jnana, Karma, Bhakti, and Yoga, and it was difficult to find out which was less predominant in him. Each of these four paths reached the highest perfection in him.