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.

Sarat had met Narendranath Dutta, who later became famous as Swami Vivekananda, and found him conceited, even before he came to Ramakrishna, in one of his friend's house.

When Ramakrishna praised a certain Narendranath, Sarat expressed the desire of meeting him, and was surprised to identify him as his earlier conceited acquaintance.

Sarat would volunteer for jobs which needed strong labour, like sweeping, cleaning and washing, as well as nursing any indisposed brother disciple.

Vivekananda then called for the participation of his brother disciples in his mission of preaching Vedanta to the West and raising money for welfare activities in India.

[4]: 72  He was invited to be a teacher at the Greenacre Conference of Comparative Religions where he began his work with a lecture on the Vedanta and classes on Yoga.

On his return from the West, Saradananda gave a series of lectures in Albert Hall in Calcutta on Vedanta.

Saradananda was involved in relief work with the help of Sister Nivedita and other brother monks of the order.

In 1899, he traveled to Gujarat along with Swami Turiyananda to collect funds for the Mission and extensively toured various parts including Ahmedabad, Junagarh, Bhavnagar etc.

In December 1899 he went to Dacca, Barisal and Narayangunj on an invitation and there stayed in the house of Ashwini Kumar Dutta.

After his return to Calcutta, he became interested in the Tantrika form of worship under the guidance of his uncle Ishwar Chandra Chakravarty.

After this experience he wrote a book "Bharate Shakti Puja" or "The worship of divine mother in India".

In 1902, after Vivekananda's death, Saradananda took up the job of managing day-to-day affairs of Belur Math and also that of editing and publishing Udbodhan, a Bengali magazine started by the former.

In 1909 two co-accused in Maniktola Bomb Case, Devavrata Bose and Sachindranath Sen, came to join the Ramakrishna order, giving up their political activities.

[4]: 92  His primary engagement at this time was the construction of a temple for Sarada Devi in Jayrambati, and another one in Belur Math, on the place where she was cremated.

Saradananda gave the welcome address, in which he put up a warning note of the dangers of complacency and exhorted the monks to stick to the ideals of the founding members.

He bought a house in Bagbazar area and used its downstairs for publishing and running the operation of the magazine and the upstairs as the abode of Sarada Devi and her devotees, and her shrine.

"[10] If she suffered from illness while staying in Jairambati, her native place, Swami Saradananda would come down along with the doctor for her medical treatment.

It is said that one day Ramakrishna, in a state of ecstasy, had sat on the lap of young Sarat and told that, I was testing how much burden he could bear.

[11] When the ship in which he was travelling to London was caught in a cyclone in Mediterranean he watched the entire episode calmly and in a detached manner even when his copassengers were mortally afraid.

In addition to the regular work of the centre, there were relief works and also that of publishing the magazine Udbodhan, writing books and articles, arranging for finances, looking after the spiritual needs of the aspirants, young monks and the devotees, and also looking after the needs of the holy mother's family members.

Once an attendant asked him about his spiritual progress, to which he replied, Did we cut grass in Dakshineswar?, referring to the period of his association with Ramakrishna.

He himself mentioned that whatever he had written in the book "Sri Ramakrishna, the great master", on spiritual experiences, were through direct realisation and not from hearsay.