Every so often a book arrives that stands out from the rest. Although the book is primarily a life of the Holy Mother with her teachings, the material is truly inspiring, and they give a sense of the kind of person the mother was -- filled with common sense and not caught by the rigidity of religious teachings. The stories were carefully collected by the Bengali author from the many people who met the Mother.

The Compassionate Mother in the hardcover edition, is the revised second edition of the book edited by Swami Shuddhidananda of Advaita Ashrama. According to the publisher, this revision of the book has amounted to a re-translation of the entire work done in a meticulous fashion by Swami Shuddhidananda.

The paperback edition was translated by Swami Tanmayananda in 2002, and so it is a different translation, available only in paperback. It is similar, but not the exact same as the hardback edition.