The years 1898 and 1899 were in certain respects years of joy for the Holy Mother, for these marked the construction of the permanent Math building for her monastic children at Belur. But this period was also noted for the sad bereavements she had to suffer in quick succession. As mentioned before, it was toward the middle of 1899 that the youngest and most beloved of her brothers, Abhay Charan,
1 met with premature death, leaving behind tremendous domestic responsibilities for the Holy Mother to shoulder. A little earlier, on the 28th March of the same year, had passed away Swami Yogananda, one of the most illustrious of Sri Ramakrishna's monastic disciples and the Holy Mother's attendant and guardian for the past twelve years. His death left the Holy Mother so disconsolate that it affected even her health.
In fact, the Swami, as already mentioned, was among the earliest of her disciples, and had accompanied her to Brindavan and to Kamarpukur. After his return from those places, he subjected himself to austerities at Banaras. In those days he took a vow of possessing no money, and all his time, except two or three hours of sleep, was devoted to meditation. To reduce the time spent on procuring food, he would collect a number of Chapatis by begging once in three or four days, keep them tied up in a cloth, and take a portion of them powdered every day. This rigorousness told upon his delicate health. He got a severe attack of dysentery and had to return to the Math. He was much emaciated, but his face looked healthy and luminous. His eyes, indrawn and reddish in tinge resembled the
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1 Abhay Charan, the youngest of the Holy Mother's brothers, was staying at Calcutta along with his two brothers Prasanna and Varada, who were earning their livelihood in that city through priestly work. After pssing the entrance examination, Abhay studied medicine at the Campbell Medical School. He had finished the course and was waiting for the results of his final examination, when he succumbed to an attack of cholera in August 1899. The shocking effect of this lingered on the Mother's mind, and once it took a curious expression when she blessed her little nephews thus: 'May these live long, even though they may not be educated.' When their mother, her sister-in-law, protested against this way of blessing, she replied: 'Yes, dear, yes! What do you know! I brought up Abhay, and he is gone!'