15 Facts About Yogin Ma

Yogin Ma, born Yogindra Mohini Biswas, was one of the principal female disciples of Sarada Devi, the wife and spiritual consort of the Hindu mystic Ramakrishna.

Yogin Ma was a major witness and an active contributor to the early formation of the order.

Yogin Ma stayed with the Sarada Devi in the Udbodhan House in Calcutta, which was built by Swami Saradananda for the use of Sarada Devi.

Yogin Ma was born as Yogindra Mohini Biswas in Calcutta on 16 January 1851 to Prasanna Kumar Mitra, a successful physician.

Yogin Ma was given in marriage to Ambika Charan Biswas at the age of six or seven, as it was the prevailing custom in Bengal to marry off girls at an early age.

Yogin Ma's husband squandered all his wealth and, despite her best attempts of rehabilitating and reforming him, became a habitual drunkard.

Yogin Ma finally left her husband's place with her only daughter and took shelter with her widowed mother in her father's house in Bagbazar area of Calcutta.

In 1882, Yogin Ma first met Ramakrishna in the house of Balaram Bose, who was a great devotee.

Yogin Ma first met Ramakrishna's wife and spiritual consort Sarada Devi in Dakshineswar, in the building of Nahabat, where Sarada Devi stayed.

Yogin Ma recounted many incidents of her life during this period - her travels to Vrindavan after Ramakrishna's demise, her travels to Puri and stay in Calcutta in several of her devotees' house, including that of Balaram Bose.

When Ramakrishna died on 16 August 1886, Yogin Ma was in Vrindaban.

Yogin Ma was an expert cook, and Vivekananda often requested her to prepare a meal for him.

Yogin Ma later came back to Calcutta along with Sarada Devi and often stayed with her in Udbodhan House in Calcutta.

Toward the end of her life, Yogin Ma took the final monastic vows according to the Vedic tradition from Swami Saradananda.

Yogin Ma died on 4 June 1924, at the Udbodhan House, at the age of seventy-three.