The Beginning of a Life Divine / by Asokananda Prosad. Garbeta is a small out-of-the-way
village tucked away in the sprawling district of Midnapur in West Bengal. Ma-Mahajnan, the transcendent Mother, came of a lower middle-class family. She was the youngest of a family of numerous brothers and sisters. Twelve children had already preceded her and she was the thirteenth. Worn out by the strain, her father did not live long. After his death, his helpless widow Sumadhuri Devi faced a grim future. She had to rear up a big hungry family all by herself. So the Mother had a taste of hardship very early in life. She was in rags. She went hungry. Life was hard for this tender growing girl. She had to suffer from grinding poverty. She had to meet with cruel and harsh treatment. People were not always kind and sympathetic. She, however, was always cheerful. She had a ready smile for everybody. She enjoyed talking. She knew well how to tell a story. She felt for others and shared in their joys and sorrows. She was helpful to the neighbors often doing their household chores for them. She delighted in serving others. She had a well-developed sense of humors. She was a good talker and loved company. In those days early marriage was the rule, particularly in the countryside. She reached the age of thirteen. Her two brothers were still minors. They were all adrift. "Who will get my little Kanan married?"––her mother thought with an aching heart. But little Kanan had a pure and unruffled soul. Nothing disturbed her. "Why do you worry, mother dear? I''ll go on staying with you as my brothers are doing." But the poor and hapless mother was not to be consoled. She ate her heart out. She got married. She became a prisoner of domestic life. But her spirit was as free as ever. She, indeed, did not shirk her duties and responsibilities as a chaste and devoted wife. She remained true to the ''kindred points of heaven and home". The man she was married to was a widower. He had a fairly long experience of married life. He married his first wife seven years before. She bore him as many as three children, one of them having died. At the age of thirteen Mother Kanandevi became a wedded wife. Nothing daunted, she took charge of the household. She had a childish fancy that as soon as a girl gets married she steps into a household with a husband, sons and daughters all complete. There is in her character a rare combination of simplicity and worldly wisdom. She remains a radiant source of joy and delight. She is a standing inspiration to others. She compels admiration by her integrity, devoutness and striking generosity. Four years rolled by since her marriage. Her husband is a doctor. He has a rational and scientific outlook. He was happy with his wife, so bright and merry and cheerful. They even turned nasty and abusive. Her first child was born when she was nineteen. Two other children were born at four years'' interval. Mother is now seventy-nine. She presides over a large, bustling household consisting of son, daughter-in-law, daughter, son-in-law and a number of grand-children. She works without allowing herself any rest. Ceaselessly, she talks offering solutions to harassing problems of every kind. Marvelously enough, she harmonizes the two worlds of spirit and matter. She is equally at home both in temporal and spiritual spheres. That is the best way of realizing her moral and spiritual stature. Seeing is believing. In her Conscious Trance, she talks ever inspired. Not a single syllable is to be blotted. She feels there is no need for that. Her words are not written in water but they stand for all times hewn in granite. ''Ma-Mahajnan'' did not have any formal education. She has an intuitive grasp of the eternal verities in the domain of spirit. With deep-searching insight, she sees through the riddle of life. She talks extempore sometimes breaking into songs. sp;