The Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi is the central figure of the women’s Math. Her life was a blazing fire of knowledge and sacrifice. Holy Mother’s disciple and attendant, Pravrajika Bharatiprana who was the first President of Sri Sarada Math and the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission reflected the way shown by Holy Mother to practise spiritual disciplines and carry out day to day activities. Members of the Math and Mission continue to work with these attitudes, behavior and methods. The Holy Mother was the embodiment of Motherhood. Following her ideal, this Math, in her name, seeks to preserve and manifest with intimate loving concern for each individual, seeing all and serving all alike as God in human form. The monastic members follow the spiritual discipline of sacrificing the good of the individual in the interests of the community’s goals in a bond of sisterhood. Swami Vivekananda revived the ancient ideal of sacrifice, in modern times, in the form of service to suffering humanity. Not only material gifts but love and affection, caring and sharing, attention and cooperation, are far more powerful. No work is considered secular. All work is done in the spirit of worship. Sister Nivedita said," Henceforth there is no distinction between the sacred and the secular." The service rendered by the members of this Math and Mission are sadhana or spiritual practice. The expansion of the self in this spirit of service is of the greatest benefit to society as well as to one’s own spiritual growth. We have to remember the Lord at all times when we are engaged in service, then only the doer and the receiver, both are benefitted.

Sri Sarada Math emphasizes spiritual development while the aim of the Ramakrishna Sarada Mission is service to the society, especially to women and children. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘Certain individuals are the sacrifices over which the race has to walk.’ He believed that without feminine power the world could not be regenerated and he had faith in the potential of women to transform society in a relatively shorter period of time. For this reason he was eager to see a Math for women started even before a Math for men. He said, ‘Educate the women of India and let them solve their own problems. Why should any man solve any woman’s problem?’ He foretold that this work for women would exceed the responsibility of the work for men.

Sri Sarada Devi’s life of selfless service to all alike irrespective of differences among individuals is the ideal and aim of all activities. From her early childhood till her last days Mother's entire life was given to the service of other people spontaneously, without any expectation, out of unconditional love. Sri Sarada Devi was the witness and supporter of all the activities of the Ramakrishna Order in her lifetime and gave the work for women, begun in her lifetime in the Nivedita School her blessings. She is even today working through the body of the twin organizations of the Math and Mission in her name for the welfare of the world.

Including the Headquarters the Mission runs 27 centres in India and one centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The centres in Indore and Guntur are combined Math & Mission centres, while the Math including Rasik Bhita and a unit at Pashchim Medinipur, has 15 centres all over India, and one centre in Sydney, Australia. The activities of the Math and Mission centres may be classified under seven categories as follows :

• Educational Work
• Medical Service 
• Rural Uplift Work
• Tribal Work
• Relief and Help to the needy
• Spread of Cultural and Spiritual Ideas 
• Work Outside India