- “Such Was The Power of The Master!”
- “If God is Pleased, Whole World Becomes Pleased”
- Kundalini Shakti Eating Food
Golap-ma (Golap Sundari Devi, c.1840-1924) lost her daughter and was grief-stricken, so she went to Ramakrishna in Dakshineswar for consolation in the mid 1880s. Later she gave personal service to the Master and then became an attendant of Holy Mother.
Golap-Ma (?-1924)—Golapsundari Devi (or Annapurna Devi), alluded to as the “grief-stricken Brahmin woman” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 781, 788) and also as “the brahmin woman from Baghbazar” (Ibid., p. 822). Born in a brahmin family of North Calcutta and married to a poor brahmin who died young. Her only son also died young. Married her only daughter to a rich zamindar, Sourindra Mohan Tagore of Pathuriaghata, but when she also died prematurely, her mother was almost mad with grief. Taken to the Master at Dakshineswar by her neighbour Yogin-Ma (1885) where the Master assuaged her grief by placing his hand on her head. Visited him frequently thereafter and introduced by him to Holy Mother as her companion, stayed at the Nahabat off and on. The Master said to have advised Niranjan Ghosh, a devotee, to address her as “Golap-didi”, hence “Golap-Ma”. Called “Golap” by the Master and Holy Mother, became Mother’s most intimate associate and described by her as her “Jaya” with Yogin-Ma as her “Vijaya”. One day the Master visited the residence of her poor brothers, with whom she lived (6A, Nabin Sarkar Lane, Calcutta-3), with his followers causing Golap-Ma to be delirious with joy (Ibid., pp. 822-23). At Dakshineswar assisted Holy Mother with her household chores, serving the Master his meal etc. Once, the Master being very hungry at midnight, the Holy Mother cooked farina-pudding, carried to him by Golap-Ma who was astonished to find his body much larger than usual and while eating, a snake-like object in him snatching the food as soon as he put it in his mouth. Asked by the Master who was eating the food, she described it, the Kundalini Shakti which had awakened in him. Served the Master in many ways and blessed by divine visions. Cooked for him at Shyampukur in the absence of Holy Mother. Sang before him at Cossipore (Ibid., p. 953). After his demise kept Holy Mother’s constant company, her personal attendant, counselor and confidante. Straight forward and outspoken, often protected her from importunate devotees. Holy Mother’s comments, “Golap has attained the ultimate realization through japam… How pure her heart is, how noble!… This is her last birth” (The Gospel of Holy Mother). She also praised Golap-Ma’s versatility, “Golap’s handiwork is very neat and she is adept at all kinds of work. She used to make all the articles for the Master’s use. Also makes mosquito-curtains, pillows and pillow-cases for the devotees” (Ibid). She accompanied Holy Mother on most of her pilgrimages and to Kamarpukur, Jayrambati, Kailowar, Kothar and other places. Lived at the Udbodhan House with her where she managed the household. After the Holy Mother’s passing continued to live there and died there on 19.12.1924. The Master’s famous comment regarding the Holy Mother, “She is Sarada, Saraswati, come to disseminate knowledge”, had been addressed to Golap-Ma.
Golap-ma was one of Sri Ramakrishna’s main women disciples, and she often had the opportunity to render personal service to him. Not only did she carry his food to him, but she also cleaned his room. Besides this, she sometimes helped the Holy Mother with the cooking and other household work. Since Golap-ma was a little older than some of the other women, she was very free with the Master and the young boy disciples. Her relationship with Sri Ramakrishna was through the heart and not through the brain. Many years later she said: “By the Master’s grace I saw the living form of my Chosen Deity. After my first meeting with the Master I used to see for a while a little boy resembling the Master moving with me.” On another occasion Golap-ma saw the Master pacing back and forth at midnight in an ecstatic mood at Dakshineswar. Then all of a sudden she saw the Divine Mother in his place, and this frightened her.”
Towards the end of August 1886, Balaram arranged for the Holy Mother to go on a pilgrimage along with Golap-ma, Lakshmi, M.’s wife, Jogin (Swami Yogananda), Latu (Swami Adbhutananda), and Kali (Swami Abhedananda). They first went to Varanasi and then to Vrindaban, where they stayed for a year. The Holy Mother later related an incident concerning Golap-ma that happened when they were in Vrindaban:
Our Golap’s mind is perfectly pure. In Madhavji’s [Krishna’s] temple at Vrindaban somebody’s baby had soiled the floor. Everyone remarked about it, but no one made a move to clean up the place. When Golap noticed this, she tore a strip from her fine cloth and cleaned the spot with it. The other women said, “Since she is cleaning it up, it must have been her baby.” I said to myself, “Listen to what they say, O Madhavji!” Some others said: “No, these are holy women. They are doing it for the convenience of others.”
One day Golap-ma cleaned the Holy Mother’s bathroom at the Udbodhan, and then, after changing her clothes, she started to prepare the fruit for the worship. Nalini, one of the Holy Mother’s nieces, was very fastidious, and when she saw what Golap-ma had done she was shocked. She told Golap-ma to take a bath in the Ganges to purify herself and then cut the fruit. Golap-ma said, “Go yourself if you want!” The Holy Mother explained to Nalini: “Golap’s mind is pure and noble. That is why she has no obsession about what is pure and what is not. This will be her last birth.”
But this does not mean that Golap-ma had no respect for the Ganges. On the contrary, her devotion for the Ganges was such that even when she was very old, she would walk with the help of a stick to the river every day for her bath. And if there was any filth on the bathing ghat, she would clean it with a piece of torn cloth and then wash the place with water. Selflessly she served people, practising the ideal of karma yoga.