Through selfless work the mind gets purified. And when the mind becomes pure, there arise knowledge and devotion in it.

Saradananda (23 December 1865 – 19 August 1927), also known as Swami Saradananda, was born as Sarat Chandra Chakravarty in 1865, and was one of the direct monastic disciples of Ramakrishna. He was the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, a post which he held until his death in 1927. He established the Udbodhan house in the Bagbazar area of Calcutta, which was built primarily for the stay of Sri Sarada Devi in Calcutta, from where he used to publish the Bengali magazine Udbodhan. There he wrote Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lilaprasanga in Bengali, on the life of Ramakrishna, which was translated into English as Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master. He is believed to be reincarnation of Saint Peter (Direct apostle of Jesus Christ) and he allegedly went into Samadhi when he was in the Saint Peter Church and said that "I remembered my past" and wrote in his diary that "Saint Peter again."

Sarat Chandra Chakravarti (b. 23 December 1865) was born in Amherst Street, Calcutta to a rich and orthodox Brahmin family. His cousin was Shashi, later known as Ramakrishnananda. His grandfather was a Sanskrit scholar with a religious disposition. Sarat Chandra's father was the co-owner of a pharmacy and was very rich.

After his initiation according to the customs of the Hindu Brahmin caste, he worshipped regularly in the family shrine. He sometimes would give away his personal belongings to the poor and needy. Sarat Chandra helped the ill, even if they had contagious diseases. He nursed a poor maid servant who was left to die by her master as she suffered from cholera, and also performed her last rites when she died.

As he grew up, he came under the influence of Brahmo leader Keshab Chandra Sen. He began to be actively associated with the Brahmo Samaj. In 1882, he passed the school-leaving examination and was admitted to St. Xaviers College.

Standing: (l–r) Shivananda, Ramakrishnananda, Vivekananda, Randhuni, Debendranath Majumdar, Mahendranath Gupta (Shri M), Trigunatitananda, H.Mustafi
Sitting: (l–r) Niranjanananda, Saradananda, Hutko Gopal, Abhedananda.

In October 1883 Sarat and Shashi went to Dakshineswar to meet Ramakrishna, who was speaking to a general audience on the subject of marriage and renunciation. Sarat visited Dakshineswar temple to meet Ramakrishna every Thursday and as he got more closely acquainted with him, he began to get directions on spiritual practices. On one occasion, the master had asked him, "How would you like to realize God?". The disciple replied, "I would not like to see any particular form of God in meditation. I want to see him manifested in all creatures of the world."

Sarat passed the First Arts examination in 1885. His father wanted him to study medicine. However, he gave it up and devoted his time in nursing Ramakrishna, first in Shyampukur and then in Cossipore garden house, when the latter was critically ill. After the death of Ramakrishna, Sarat at first came back to his house but then joined the Baranagar Math along with his other brother disciples, accompanied by his cousin Shashi.