Introduction

“Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s life is a ‘Story of religion in practice’, and it enables us to see God face to face; he was a living embodiment of Godliness and Divinity.”-Mahatma Gandhi.

Sri Ramakrishna, in his life, proved the truth of religion and the reality of God. When a near- skeptical, but an earnest young man, Narendranath Datta asked Sri Ramakrishna, “Have you seen God, Sir? Sri Ramakrishna readily replied,” Yes, I see him just as much as I see you here now, but much more intensely”. Later Sri Ramakrishna revealed also the vision and experience of God to Narendranath, who later became Swami Vivekananda, the champion of the religious faith the world over.

Sri Ramakrishna proved that all religions are true, that they are but different pathways to God and that Religion does not lie in mere faith, but in realization, in the realization of God.

Sri Ramakrishna proved to be a mighty uplifting spiritual force to a world blinded by materialism. He was also an embodiment and symbol of Indian culture and spirituality. He opened the eyes of Hindus to the beauty, grandeur and strength of Hinduism at a time when their faith was greatly shaken up and the country was getting sunk into a morass of moral and spiritual decline due to influx of Western culture and civilization into the country.

Sri Ramakrishna rescued not only Hinduism from a dire calamity, but also helped, as it were, to resuscitate all the faiths, and stemmed the rising tide of skepticism and religious unbelief overtaking the world in the daze of material progress, due to phenomenal advance of Science.

Sri Ramakrishna is most rightly revered as Paramahamsa – the one, who with his discriminatory vision, discerns the soul apart from and distinct within the body, the spirit behind the matter, and God behind the appearance of the world, and reveals himself in God only, just as a swan is said to be able to separate milk from water and drink and enjoy the milk only.

Scriptures of all the faiths find their vindication and fulfilment in Sri Ramakrishna, although he never read any of them. He was an embodiment of enlightened wisdom of all the scriptures. His life was a holy confluence of the three streams of Vairagya (Renunciation), Bhakti and Jnana: the sacred Triveni Sangam.

His Birth and Boyhood

Sri Ramakrishna’s parents were a pious Brahmin couple, Khudiram Chattopadhyaya and his wife Chandramani in the Village of Derepore, District Hoogly, in Bengal. Their landed property extended to about 50 acres. Devotedly worshipping their tutelary deity Sri Ramachandra and discharging their worldly duties also, they were a happy couple. But one incident occurred in the life of Khudiram in the year 1814, which changed the destiny of the family. He was called upon by the local Zamindar to give false evidence, in support of a case which the latter brought against one of his (Zamindar’s ) tenants. Khudiram refused to do this as it would amount to committing of perjury. Because of this he incurred the wrath of the unscrupulous Zamindar who falsely involved him in a prosecution, alleging that Khudiram owed him a huge sum of money. He also managed to produce false witnesses to support his fabricated allegation and thus annexed the lands of Khudiram. The latter had to leave his ancestral home, and the impoverished Khudiram made his new home in a neighbouring village, Kamarpukur.

At Kamarpukar, through the benevolence of one of his friends, he got half an acre of land to cultivate. The one time opulent family was now forced to manage with the poor income from this tiny patch of land, yet contentedly and with their faith unshaken in their Lord Sri Rama. The Kamarpukur village, being situated on the road leading to Puri Jagannath gave Khudiram the opportunity of always having the holy Satsang of Vaishnavite pilgrims, monks and ascetics, who halted in the Dharmasalas of Kamarpukur on their way to Puri. This enriched him spiritually immensely.

One day, while returning from a neighbouring village, Khudiram came into possession of the emblem of his tutelary deity Raghuvir, in a paddy field. This gave him great joy, for he felt that God Himself appeared to be seeking him. Installing the holy idol in his shrine, he and his wife started worshipping it with intense devotion.

Khudiram had one son by name Ramkumar and also one daughter at that time. In course of time, Ramkumar became quite proficient in Hindu lore, and was able to relieve to a certain extent his father’s burden, earning something. This gave Khudiram also time and opportunity to go on a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram. This pilgrimage made him name the second son born to him later as Rameshwar, taking the child as the blessing of Lord Siva of Rameswaram.

About eleven years later, i.e. in 1835, Khudiram went on another pilgrimage – this time to Gaya. Here, after the performance of the sacred rites (oblations to the forefathers), he had a strange vision at night. He dreamt he was in the temple of Gadadhar Vishnu, Where his forefathers were feasting on the sacred offerings he had made. Suddenly a flood of celestial light also filled the holy precincts of the shrine and the spirits of the departed fell on their knees to pay homage to a divine Presence seated on the throne.

The Effluent One, seated on the throne, beckoned to Khudiram who, going near, prostrated himself before Him and heard the luminous person saying, “I am well pleased at your sincere devotion, Khudiram! I shall be born in your cottage, accepting you as my father.” Khudiram awoke with his heart throbbing with joy. He understood that the divine Being would bless his house in some way. About the same time Chandra Devi was also having strange visions at Kamarpukur. One of those visions was: while standing along with Dhani (the village blacksmith woman) before the temple of Lord Shiva adjacent to her house, Chandra Devi saw a bright beam of divine effulgence dart from the image of Lord Shiva and enter her.

In the early hours of the morning of February 18, 1836, Chandra Devi gave birth to another boy whom the world was to know afterwards as Sri Ramakrishna who was to usher in the renaissance of the Hindu religion. Learned astrologers of the village predicted a most glorious future for the child who was indeed most charming, his body shining with a golden luster. The child was named Gadadhar, after the God of Gaya, because the child was verify His blessings only.

Gadai, as the child used to be lovingly called, became a great favourite of the people of the village with his sweet looks. He was also a very precocious child and began to exhibit a remarkable and brilliant intelligence. He was very quick in learning and committing to memory various Hindu hymns. He was put into the village school where he made good progress but showed great distaste for mathematics; presumably he was to manifest and dwell on the infinite had an instinctive distaste for finite numbers. Most of the time he would devote himself to the study of the Indian epics and the lives and preachings of spiritual heroes. These made a deep impact and impression on him and as years passed, his religious feelings were more and more roused and he would lose himself in meditation and go into a trance. Soon, it was found that not only religious subjects but just beautiful sceneries or some touching incident was enough to make him lose himself into a trance. Sri Ramakrishna narrated one such childhood incident in later years to his disciples in the following way:

“One day, in the month of Ashadha (around June-July), when I was six or seven years old, I was walking along a narrow path separating the paddy fields, eating some puffed rice which I was carrying in a basket. Looking up at the sky, I saw a beautiful somber thunder-cloud. As it spread rapidly enveloping the whole sky, a flock of snow-white cranes flew overhead in front of it. It presented such a beautiful contrast that my mind wandered to far off regions, lost to outward senses and I fell down and the puffed rice got scattered in all directions. Some people found me in that plight and carried me home in their hands. That was the first time I completely lost consciousness in ecstasy.”

Another instance was when he was playing the role of Siva in the village dramatic performance on a Shivarathri night. He fell into a deep trance at the sight of his own make up as Lord Siva, and it was with great difficulty that he could be brought back to the plane of normal consciousness. A loving thought of God, or a glimpse of beauty of Nature revealing the handwork of God, was enough to trigger him off into a trance.

In the year 1843, Khudiram died and the entire burden of the family fell upon the shoulders of Ramkumar, the eldest son. The death of Khudiram brought a great change in the mind of Gadadhar who now began to feel poignantly the loss of his affectionate father. Thereafter he began to frequently go to the neighbouring mango grove or the cremation ground and pass long hours there absorbed in thought. But he did not forget his duties to loving mother. He became less exacting in his importunities and tried every means to lessen the burden of his mother’s grief and infuse into her melancholy life whatever little joy and consolation he could.

Gadadhar soon would found a new source of pleasure, that was in the company of wandering monks, who on their way to Puri, used to stop at the Dharmasalas of the village. He began spending most of his time in their company, listening to their discussions on spiritual matters. One day, Chandra – Devi was startled to find her darling boy with his whole body smeared with ashes and wearing saffron coloured cloth round his waist with a long stick in one hand and Kamandalu in another, looking like a real Bala Sanyasi. His mother, instead of being amused, cried out in anxiety and fear, ”My dear child! Who made you a Sanyasi? Where are you going? How can I live without you?” And clasping him tightly in her embrace, she burst out into sobs. He began consoling his mother, saying,” Ma, I have not become a Sanyasi. I just wanted to give you some fun and amusement and show you how I would look in the dress of a Sanyasi.” However, the mother extracted a promise from him that he would not take to Sanyasa nor leave home anytime in his life, without her permission. This explains why Sri Ramakrishna got himself married in his life while we find that the many disciples he had later, became Sanyasis in their lives. (Sri Ramakrishna’s marriage of course was spiritual companionship – not as man and wife in the ordinary and worldly sense. Sri Ramakrishna worshipped his wife, Sarada Devi, as embodiment of Shakti or the divine mother Kali Herself, and she too indeed lived like a Mother to him.)

When Gadadhar was nine years old, he was invested with the holy thread ‘ Gayatri Upadesh’. With this man becomes reborn into spiritual life and becomes a Brahmin, which means, that he begins on the path towards realization of Brahmin. One curious incident, however, happened at the time of the thread ceremony. Instead of taking his first alms, Bhiksha, from his mother as per tradition, he accepted it from Dhani, the Blacksmith woman who had tended him with great love during his infancy. Having no child of her own, she used to love him as her own son. Gadadhar also wanted to show his love towards her and give her joy, although the alms taken from her meant contravention of the time –honoured custom in a Brahmin family. True love and devotion were more important to him than social conventions: “Caste does not lie in birth but in the qualities of the heart”.

Gadadhar‘s one hobby at that time, apart from his spiritual obsession, was to enact dramas on Puranic themes. With his friends, he used to hold performances in the neighbouring mango orchard on the outskirts of the village. His most popular theme was featuring Krishna’s Leelas. With his fair complexion and flowing hair, wearing a garland about his neck and holding the flute at his lips, Gadadhar would often play the role of Krishna. At times, the whole mango grove would ring and resound with loud Sankeertans which the boys sang in chorus. And often, overwhelmed with the emotion and sentiment associated with these themes, he would frequently fall into trances, Sri Ramakrishna would explain about this experience to his friends.” Do you know what happened? When I intensively think of God in my heart, I feel His Presence there. There I feel as if He draws me lovingly within. Then I begin to lose my outward consciousness and feel immense peace and joy inside. “But this other worldly attitude of the boy caused a great of anxiety to his mother and elder brothers. People used to think that Sri Ramakrishna was suffering from epileptic disease.

However misfortune soon overtook the family. The wife of Ramkumar died leaving an infant son behind to be taken care of by the aged grandmother. Ramkumar’s meager earnings also were inadequate for the maintenance of the home, which forced the family incur growing debts. Ramkumar decided to go to Calcutta for making a better earning so that the family may get over its financial difficulties. He opened a Sanskrit school in a central part of the city. In the village, Rameshwar was managing the household. Gadadhar was drifting off more and more in to his spiritual pursuits, ignoring his school studies and his aversion to academic education becoming more and more pronounced. It seemed to have already drawn on his mind that he was destined to fulfil some other great mission in life, though he did not know what exactly it was going to be. Any way the realisation of God seemed to him to be the only goal worth pursuing. The bonds of love for his aging and poor mother, however prevented him from running away from home in his quest.

To Calcutta

Ramkumar‘s school made some progress. In fact, he needed assistance to cope up with the growing work of the school. Noting the indifference of Gadadhar to school studies, he took him along to Calcutta partly for assistance and more than that, with the hope that he might be able to supervise the latter’s studies, thus putting him on the right track.

At Calcutta also, Gadadhar did not take any greater interest in his school studies. He, however, would take all interest in the puja performance as priest in the houses of people, which he was entrusted with by his brother. His simplicity, integrity, winning manners and devotion impressed and attracted everyone, and very soon there developed a circle of friends and admirers around him, all belonging to respectable families.

When Ramkumar once admonished Gadadhar sternly for not taking his studies seriously, he spiritedly replied,” Brother, what shall I do with a mere bread- winning education? I would rather acquire that wisdom which will illumine my heart, and with which I will be satisfied forever.” Ramkumar was puzzled to hear this straight and decisive reply. Failing to prevail upon Gadadhar to pursue his studies, he resigned matters to the will of Raghuvir, their family deity.

To Dakshineshwar

A rich widow of great piety, named Rani Rasmani, was living in Calcutta at that time. In 1847, she spent a fortune to fund a temple of the great Goddess Kali on the eastern bank of the Ganga at Dakshineswar, about four miles to the north of Calcutta. In the midst of a rectangular paved courtyard, stood the vast temple of Kali, the sovereign deity, while there was another shrine dedicated to Krishna and Radha. Both the temples were connected by an open terrace above the Ganga between a double row of 12( Dwadasa) Siva shrines. In addition to the temples, there were a spacious music hall, rooms for temple staff, quarters for the Rani’s family, etc. There was also a beautiful garden with two tanks and a large banyan tree which was to later play a great part in Sri Ramakrishna’s life.

Ramkumar took over the priesthood of this temple when the temple was consecrated on May 31, 1855. In a few days, Gadadhar also began to live with his brother in the sacred temple garden of Dakshineshwar with its calm and congenial atmosphere, where the former felt quite at home and found greater opportunities to pursue his spiritual practices. This actually marks the beginning of the many splendorous chapters in Sri Ramakrishna’s life and in the religious renaissance of India.

It was at this time that Hriday, a young man destined to be a close companion of Sri Ramakrishna for the next twenty – five years and who attended upon the latter most faithfully and diligently especially during the stormy days of his Sadhana, appeared on the scene. He was the nephew of Gadadhar, and his arrival delighted the latter very much.

Soon the eyes of Mathura Nath Biswas (Mathur Babu), the son in law of Rani Rasmani, fell on young Gadadhar whom he persuaded to take charge of decorating the image of Kali with flowers, leaves and sandal paste in the morning, and costly jewellery and clothes in the evening. Thus entrusted with the work most suited to his temperament, Gadadhar gave himself heart and soul to these tasks, beside losing himself in singing devotional songs to the Mother at other times.

Shortly after his appointment in the kali temple, an incident occurred which enhanced the worth of Sri Ramakrishna in the eyes of Rani Rasmani and Mathur Babu. One day, the priest of the Radha Krishna temple, while taking the image of Krishna to the retiring room, suddenly slipped and fell down, and in that process, one leg of the image was broken. All the pundits advised that the idol be thrown away into the Ganga and a new one to be installed in its place, since tradition did not permit the worship of a broken idol. But Sri Ramakrishna intervened and said that this was ridiculous. “If the son in law of the Rani fractured his leg, would she discard him and accept another person in his place? Would she not rather arrange for the treatment? And why not do the same thing here? Therefore, let the image be repaired and worshipped as before.” he said. Sri Ramakrishna himself undertook to repair the image and did it so adroitly that even the most careful scrutiny did not reveal where the break occurred. The Rani and Mathur were so happy and felt greatly relieved at this. After this, Sri Ramakrishna was himself made the priest of the Radha Krishna temple.

Ramkumar then got Sri Ramakrishna initiated by one Kenaram Bhattacharya, a person well versed in the elaborate ritualistic temple worship of Kali, so that he( Sri Ramakrishna) could be entrusted with the sole charge of worship in the temple and thereby Ramkumar would get some relief himself, especially in view of his failing health. A little later Ramkumar died, which came as a great shock to Sri Ramakrishna as well as a revelation to him about the transitoriness of life in the world. His desire to realize the imperishable, to gain a lasting glimpse of the Reality then became very intense and all consuming.

The idol of Kali was not a mere stone image to Sri Ramakrishna but the living Mother Herself. Although She is believed to combine in Herself both the terrible as well as the benign aspects – the destructive as well as the creative aspects in Nature – for him, however, She was purely the affectionate Mother: the repository of all blessedness and power, sweet, tender and full of motherly solicitude, one who, with loving care protects Her devotees from harm. He offered a whole – souled devotion to Her, regarding Her as the only true guide in darkness and confusion. It was a total dedication, of body, mind and soul in the worship.

Vision of the Mother

Sri Ramakrishna now plunged himself into all – consuming Sadhana. At night, when everybody would be asleep, he would retire to the adjoining dense jungle, returning after day – break with eyes swollen as though with dense jungle returning after day break with eyes swollen as though with much weeping or showing the effects of prolonged meditation. He used to cry and weep, ”Mother! Where art thou? Reveal thyself to me.” When the pearls of evening bells in the temples announced the close of the day, he would grow disconsolate and cry with agony, ”Another day is spent in vain, Mother, for I have not seen Thee! Another day of this short life has passed and I have not realized the Truth.” In this state of agony, when he was at the limit of his endurance, the veil was lifted, and he was blessed with the vision of the divine mother. Sri Ramakrishna described his first experience of the vision to his disciples years later as follows:

“I was then suffering from excruciating pain because I had not been blessed with the vision of the Mother. I felt as if my heart was being squeezed like a wet towel. I was overpowered by a great restlessness and a fear that it might not be longer; life did not seem worth living. Suddenly my eyes fell on the sword which was kept in the Mother’s temple. I jumped upon it like a mad man and seized it for ending my life, when suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself to me and I fell unconscious on the floor. What exactly happened after that or how that day or the next passed, I do not know, but within me there was a steady flow of unalloyed bliss altogether new, and I felt presence of the divine Mother.”

After this, Sri Ramakrishna yearned to have this vision constantly and continuously. But as he was not able to get it, he was thrown into the depths of despair time and again. He could not endure this play of ‘hide and seek’ as it were, of the divine Mother. So, he redoubled his efforts with prayer and meditation. The visions became more frequent and he would find Her standing before him in Her matchless radiant form, granting boons to Her devotees and blessing them! He used to see Her smiling, talking, consoling or teaching him in various ways. He would even feel Her breath in his hand while offering Naivedyam or Bhoga. From his own room, he could hear Her going to the upper storey of the temple with anklets jingling and with playful delight of a girl. He used to then follow Her and find Her standing with flowing hair on the balcony of the first floor, looking either at Calcutta or over the Ganga. Mother, thus, used to reveal Her living presence to him most frequently at least, if not continuously or constantly. Thus, as his realization become deeper, the vision of the Mother became more and more living and luminous. Initially, Sri Ramakrishna regarded the stone image of Kali possessing consciousness but now the image disappeared and instead, there stood the living Mother Herself. Of course, people doubled his sanity and considered him as totally deranged mentally.

One day Rani Rasmani happened to be there in the temple at the time of worship. She requested him to sing some prayer songs on the mother. Slowly the music arose, springing from the depths of his heart and like a fountain of heavenly bliss, bathed his whole being with ecstasy. After a time, the Rani became absent-minded, thinking about some lawsuit of hers pending in her court. Sri Ramakrishna suddenly stopped singing and gave her a sharp rebuke for defiling the holy precincts with worldly thoughts and desires. The Rani realised how omni- conscious and all knowing like the mother, Sri Ramakrishna had become.

Hatha Yoga Practices

After this, he took to the practice of Hatha Yoga. He would go to the cremation ground and sit bare- bodied for hours together in meditation. One evening, he felt an irritating sensation in his palate which after a minute began to bleed. He was perplexed because the blood was black in colour, but an elderly and spiritually well advanced Yogi who happened to be there said, “Thank God! There is no cause for anxiety. This hemorrhage has done you great good. Because of your yogic practices, your Sushumna canal has been opened, and a quantity of blood which was rushing to the brain has fortunately made a passage through the palate; otherwise you would have entered the Jada Samadhi from which you could never have come down again to the plane of ordinary consciousness. Obviously, the divine Mother has some great mission to be performed through you and She has thus saved your body. She would perhaps want you to remain on the threshold of relative consciousness and fulfil some divine mission.

Vision of Sri Rama

Sri Ramakrishna had a catholic spirit and veneration for all names and forms of God, from the very beginning. He made no distinction between one form of God and another. The realization of one aspect of Reality inspired him to take up another, and to follow it with unflinching devotion till that aspect of Reality revealed itself. He now felt strong urge to realize Sri Rama. He, therefore, took upon himself the task of reproducing, as faithfully as possible, the attitude of Hanuman towards Rama that of a faithful servant towards the master( Dasya Bhavya). He totally identified himself with Hanuman and changed his habits also from that of a man to ‘a monkey’, living on nuts and fruits and climbing trees and even jumping from branch to branch. And as result of this Sadhana, he had a vision of Mother Sita, looking gracefully at him. The luminous form then entered his body. Thereafter, he had the vision of Sri Rama Himself.

Sri Ramakrishna’s Marriage with Sarada Devi

Listening to the stage rumours about Sri Ramakrishna and also hearing of his ‘sickness’, his mother was repeatedly writing to him letters anxiously, asking him to come to Kamarpukur. Sri Ramakrishna obeyed the call and found himself once again in the calm, peaceful and salubrious surroundings of his native village. But here too, he could not refrain from his Yogic practices. However, the mother’s care restored his health to a considerable extent.

Sri Ramakrishna was then 25 years of age and his mother and brother Rameshwar thought that he should be got married, believing that would be the best means to get him interested in wordly life. They began searching for a suitable bride for him, but who would offer his daughter to a mad chap’? They were getting dejected and depressed. Moved by their anxiety and worry, Sri Ramakrishna said,” Why are you trying here and there? Go to Jayarambati and there you will find a bride reserved by Providence for me in the house of Ramachandra Mukhopadhyay.”

When they enquired at Jayrambati, about 3 miles from Kamarpukar, this hint proved to be true. A girl was there, about six years of age. The parents of the girl readily agreed to offer to Sri Ramakrishna and the marriage was duly performed. The bride returned to her parents after the marriage. Sri Ramakrishna stayed for a year and a half at the village and then came back to Dakshineshwar. For six years thereafter, he continued his Sadhana. During this time, he developed a great revulsion for money and for caste distinctions. The spirit of renunciation had totally overtaken him.

Brahmani Bhairavi and Tantric Practices of Sri Ramakrishna

In 1861, a Guru came to Sri Ramakrishna unsought in the person of a venerable woman who was a great Yogini. She was middle aged, and her name was Bhairavi Brahmani. As soon as Bhairavi saw Sri Ramakrishna, she burst into tears of joy and surprise and said, “ My son, you are here I have been searching for you so long and now I have found you….” She spoke with great emotion as though she had finally found her long lost son. Sri Ramakrishna too was visibly moved.

Bhairavi was well versed in Vaishnava and Tantric literature and their spiritual practices. Her intense Sadhana bestowed on her wonderful realization; She was looking for a suitable aspirant to whom she could pass on all her attainments. Sri Ramakrishna too confided to her all his experiences. He began loving her as his mother and accepted her as his spiritual guide. She guided him through the most severe Tantric Sadhana and perfected him on that path.

Judgement of Sri Ramakrishna

At this time, rumours again started spreading that Sri Ramakrishna’s mind was totally deranged. Brahmani Bhairavi was, of course, assuring one and all that he was in state of Mahabhava (extraordinary state of spiritual ecstasy) described in the Sastras, which was experienced and passed through by intensely devout souls yearning for one-ness with God such as Radha and Guaranga Mahaprabhu. However, Mathur Babu wanted to get an authoritative opinion in the matter from some eminent religious people. He called for a meeting of the distinguished scholars of the time. Vaishnava Charan who was one of the leaders of the Vaishnava society and an authority in Vaishnava philosophy and scriptures, and Gaurikanta Tarkabushan who was a renowned an authority of Tantric school, were invited to be the judges. The result of the meeting was that they acknowledged that Ramakrsihna was no ordinary saint. They fell at his feet extolling,” You are that mine of spiritual power, only a small fraction of which appears in the world from time to time in the form of incarnations.” Thus, those great scholars and pundits who came to test Sri Ramakrishna surrendered themselves at his feet.

Ram Lala (The Child – God Rama) comes seeking Sri Ramakrishna

It was about the year that a great Vaishnava devotee, Jatadhari by name, came to Dakshineshwar. He was a wandering monk and devotee of child – god Rama (Ram Lala). By long meditation and worship, he had made great spiritual progress and was blessed with a wonderful vision of Rama as a child. The effulgent form of young Rama had then become a living presence to him. He carried the image of Ram Lala wherever he went. Ram Lala actually used to accept the food offered to him. Jatadhari was engaged day and night in the service of the image and was in a state of constant bliss. Sri Ramakrishna, who could for himself see the actions of Ram Lala, would spend the whole day with Jatadhari watching Ram Lala. Ram Lala was becoming more and more intimate with Sri Ramakrishna and used to accompany him to his room. Ram Lala would also dance gracefully before him, sometimes jumping onto his back, or insisting on being taken up in his arms. He used to play all sorts of pranks with Rmakrishna and they became very fond of each other.

One day Jatadhari came to Sri Ramakrishna weeping and said,” time has come for me to leave from here but Rama Lala tells me that he will not come with me and will stay behind with you. I shall thus be leaving him with you although it is so painful for me to part from him as he is my very life, yet I am consoled that he is happy in your company.” Saying this, Jatadhari left carrying with himself his mere physical frame of body and leaving his very heart and dear Ram Lala behind with Sri Ramakrishna.

Vision of Krishna

Through Dasya Bhava, Sri Ramakrishna had the vision of Mother Sita and Sri Rama ; with Vatsalya Bhava he had the Darshan of Child Rama. Now he took to Sakhya Bhava Sadhana and had the vision of Sri Krishna. After these, he practiced the highest kind of Vaishnava Sadhana in which the worshipper identifies himself with Radha and loses himself in an ecstasy of passionate, love for Krishna, the eternal lover. In his attempts to efface his personality, Sri Ramakrishna would dress himself as Radha and live in the company of women as one among them. This complete identification was soon rewarded and he had a vision of the exquisite beauty of Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna in his graceful form revealed Himself to Sri Ramakrishna and fulfilled the hankerings of his soul. Then, He merged Himself in the person of Sri Ramakrishna who remained in a state of divine ecstasy for two to three months.

Vision of Impersonal God Head (Vedanta Realization)

Sri Ramakrishna by now had practiced all forms of devotion laid down in the scriptures of Bhakti, namely Santa, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya and Madhurya and realized the same goal through each one of them. All his visions predominantly belonged to the domain of personality (forms of personal god) which it is said, is not the last word in spiritual experiences, He was yet to reach a state where knowledge, knower and known become one indivisible consciousness – a state in which space disappears into nothingness, time is swallowed up into eternity and causation becomes a dream of the past. He alone can know the state who has experienced it, for it is an indefinable experience.

The soul after a final struggle leaps over the last barrier of relative existence, shatters its prison of matter and merges in the infinite glory of Brahman. This is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the highest flight of Advaitic philosophy. Sri Ramakrishna, no doubt, was the fittest person for this experience. Now the time seemed to have become ripe for this. An itinerant monk called Totapuri came to Dakshineswar. He was a great Jnana Yogi, adapt not only in the philosophy of Advaita but also in its practical realization. He asked Sri Ramakrishna,” Would you like to learn Vedanta?” Sri Ramakrishna replied,” I don’t know. It all depends on the Mother. Only if She approves of it, I will study it.” Totapuri then said,” All right, go and ask Her.” Sri Ramakrishna went into the temple and consulted the Goddess who was a living divine Mother for him. The Mother told him,” Yes, my child, go and learn from him; it is for this purpose I brought him to you.” Sri Ramakrishna returned to Totapuri with a beaming countenance and communicated to him Mother’s permission. Accordingly, Totapuri initiated him, with appropriate ceremonies, into the teachings of Vedanta in all its subtlety and depth.

Ramakrishna was asked to fix his mind firmly on the Absolute after piercing through the maze of name and form and diving into the Atman, the Self. Sri Ramakrishna had no difficulty in withdrawing the mind from all other objects except one, the all- too familiar form of the blissful Mother. Totapuri presses on a point between the eyebrows with a piece of glass and asked Sri Ramakrishna to concentrate on the point. Sri Ramakrishna later said,” I again sat to meditate and as soon as the gracious form of the divine Mother appeared before me, I used my discrimination as a sword and severed the form in to two, after which there was no obstruction to my mind and it immediately soared beyond the relative plane and I lost myself in Samadhi.

To the astonishment of Totapuri, on the very first day of the practice, Sri Ramakrishna straight away went into Nirvikalpa Samadhi and remained in that state, dead to the world, for three days. Totapuri was wonderstruck and exclaimed,” Is it really true? Is it possible that this man has attained in the course of a single day that which it took me forty years of strenuous practice to achieve? Great God, it is nothing short of a miracle!” Thereafter, Totapuri chose to remain at Dakshineshwar for eleven months to make this exceptional pupil perfect in the Advaitic Sadhana.

Totapuri had believed that Sri Ramakrishna’s praying to the divine Mother was superstition. But circumstances and actual experience later compelled him to change his mind and believe in the existence of the divine Mother. He realised that Brahman and Sakthi are one and the same – two aspects of the same Entity.

After Totapuri left, Sri Ramakrishna remained in a state of absolute identity with Brahman, far above all subjective and objective experiences, for six months at a stretch. Hriday would force a little food and water down Sri Ramakrishna’s mouth occasionally; this kept the physical body above. At last, Mother commanded him, “Remain on the threshold of relative consciousness for the sake of humanity,” and his mind then gradually came down to a lower level and he gained body consciousness.

Practice of other Religions – Visions of Mohammed, Christ

As a result of the Advaitic realization, Sri Ramakrishna acquired wonderful breadth of vision to reverse all forms of religion as so many pathways for reaching perfection. He was determined to test this on the touchstone of personal experience, He therefore got himself initiated into Islam through one Govinda Ray, a Sufi who was originally a Hindu but embraced Islam and lived at Dakshineshwar at that time. Sri Ramakrishna took to Islamic practices of devotion in an intense way. He said later about this as follows: “ Then I used to repeat the Name of Allah, wear my clothes in the fashion of the Mohammedans and perform the Namaz regularly, and all the Hindu ideas I pushed away from mind, Not only did I stop saluting the Hindu Gods, but also gave up even thinking of them. After three days, I realized the goal of that form of devotion.” He had at first the vision of Mohammed the Prophet and then the experience of the Absolute Godhead (Allah).

Several years later, he had a similar realization of Christianity. It so happened that once he was looking attentively at the picture of Madonna with the divine child, reflecting on the wonderful life of Christ, when he felt as though the picture became animated and that rays of light emanated from the figures of Mary and Christ and entered into his heart. For three days, he continued to have visions of the Christian church, of Christian devotees, prayers, etc. On the fourth day, as he was walking in the Panchavati, he saw Christ approach and embrace him and then entering into his being. Sri Ramakrishna exclaimed,” Ah this is Christ, the Master Yogi, the embodiment of love who poured out his heart’s blood for the redemption of Mankind and suffered agonies for its sake!”

Sri Ramakrishna used to offer his worship to Buddha also, who is believed to be an incarnation of God by the Hindus. He said about Buddha. “There is not the least doubt about Lord Buddha being an Incarnation of Vishnu. There is no difference between his doctrines and those of the Vedic Jnana Kanda (Upanishadic teaching).”

In his room he also kept a small idol of Tirthankara Mahavira, before which he used to burn incense, morning and evening.

On the Sikh Gurus, Sri Ramakrishna used to say that they were all incarnations of the saintly king Janaka.

About the three systems of Indian Vedanta philosophy – Dwaita, Visishtadvaita and Advaita- he used to say that they are but different stages in man’s progress towards the goal and that they are not contradictory; instead, they are complementary to each other, being suited to different mental outlooks and different stages of psychological development of men.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say to his disciples later:

“The tank has several ghats and Hindus draw water in pitchers and call it Jal; at another, Mohammedans draw water in leather bags and call it pani; and at a third, Christians call it water. Can we imagine that the water is not Jal but only pani or water? How absurd? The substance is One with different names and everyone is seeking the same Substance.

Every religion of the world is such a ghat. Go direct with a sincere and earnest heart to any one of these ghats and you will reach the water of eternal Bliss. But say not your religion is better that that of another.

Different creeds are seeking different paths to reach the same God. Diverse are the ways that lead to the temple of Mother Kali at Kali ghat in Calcutta. Similarly, various are the paths that take men to then House of the Lord. Every religion is but one such path.

The mind and intellect can comprehend and put in terms of language, the range of thought upto Visishtadvaita and no further. In perfection, the Absolute and the Manifestation are seen to be equally real. The Lord’s Name, His Abode and He Himself are found to be composed of one spiritual substance. Everything is spiritual, the variance being only in form.

The Advaita is the last word in realization. It is something to be felt in Samadhi, for it transcends mind and speech.”

Sri Ramakrishna now became convinced that his extraordinary spiritual struggles and realizations were not for himself, but to usher in a new era of spiritual unfoldment and to show mankind how to overcome the obstacles on the way to realization of the truth about God, the supreme Creator and His creation.

Mother Sarada Devi

Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi were man and wife, but only in name. It was a divine scheme that had brought them together; it was pure, holy and spiritual comradeship. He considered and worshipped Sarada Devi as the Holy Mother Kali Herself. And although she adored him as a divine incarnation, and she had to tend him also, as a mother tends her child. It was love, pure and selfless love, spiritual that reigned in a nearby room.

In 1872, in her 18th year, Sarada Devi came to Dakshineshwar to join her ‘husband’. She actually used to stay with Sri Ramakrishna‘s mother in a nearby room.

Two months after Sarada Devi’s arrival, Sri Ramakrishna celebrated the shodasi Puja for Goddess Kali. To the surprise and wonder of all, he asked Sarada Devi to occupy the seat which was decorated and decked with flowers for the Goddess, and he bowed down and prostrated before Sarada Devi as if she were the Mother Kali Herself. He worshipped her with flowers and all the customary Puja offerings. Both the mother and Sri Ramakrishna bowed again at her feet and said in a resonant voice, “Oh, Jaganmatha! Oh, Jagat Jananee. Today, I offer at your feet the Sadhana done by me all these years. Distribute it ‘to your children’ who are going to flock to you in hundreds and thousands, not before long. Distribute it to all lavishly.”

Thus Sri Ramakrishna as an Avatara Purusha and Sarada Devi as Avatara Shakti had blossomed into their fullness of splendor and glory to commence their holy mission on earth. He had become Jagat Pitha and made Sarada Devi Jaganmata, to look after the countless children that came flocking to her, Vivekananda, Brahmananda, Niranjanananda, Premananda and so on.

Sarada Devi was the visible representation of the blissful Mother for Sri Ramakrishna as well as to all others.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S PILGRIMAGE – RANI RASMANI AND MATHUR BABU’S BLESSED END.

Mathur Babu, son in laws of Rani Rasmani, felt from the beginning that Sri Ramakrishna was an extraordinary person and that he was immensely fortunate to have his contact. Sri Ramakrishna’s ‘eccentric ways’ used to often embarrass Mathur Babu. Sometimes, he was even forced to doubt whether Sri Ramakrishna, apart from his guileless simplicity, was really sane. But several supernatural incidents reinforced his faith and devotion in him. When Sri Ramakrishna rebuked Rani Rasmani in the temple, Mathur Babu had felt hurt. But Rani Rasmani confessed him,” Yes, it was not Ramakrsihna’s fault; it was blasphemous on my part to be thinking of personal and paltry property matters in the holy precincts of the temple. His rebuke brought me to my senses. He always deserves our highest reverence and esteem”. But Mathur Babu was still not completely reconciled. However, a few days after this, one extraordinary event occurred which dispelled all of Mathur Babu’s doubts and instilled in him faith that never wavered again. One particular day, Mathur Babu was relaxing in the temple office, while Sri Ramakrishna was pacing up and down on the verandah muttering to himself something ‘like a mad man’. As Mathur Babu was looking on, he was startled. He could not believe his own eyes.” Am I dreaming? No. Is it then real? What he was seeing was sometimes, the Divine mother and sometimes Jatadhari Siva and sometimes Sri Ramakrishna Himself. He was thrilled and enraptured at this unique vision, convinced that Sri Ramakrishna was the very personification of the Divine Couple. Mathur Babu came running and fell at Sri Ramakrishna’s feet, saying,” Pardon me, I was blinded by my wealth, ego and arrogance, Mother has opened my eyes today.” He then narrated his vision to Sri Ramakrishna. The latter, as usual, in his childlike manner, said,”Ah, This is all Mother’s doing. I was just uttering ‘Jai Bhairavi, Jai Mahadev’, as I was pacing up and down.”Mathur Babu then realised that Sri Ramakrishna was not merely reciting Japa, but, with his intense love, was also becoming one with the Forms symbolized by the Holy Names.

A few months later, Rani Rasmani died. It was night time when the end came, A big oil lamp was burning in the room. ”Put out the lights! Put out the lights!,” said Rani Rasmani. “Don’t you see Mother Bhavatarini is coming and flooding our whole house with her light? Come in Ma! Come in Ma! Come in Ma!”, so saying Rani Rasmani merged her being into that of the Divine Mother. A smile of peace lit her face, indicating that Rani Rasmani had not ‘died’ but had actually woken up into eternal existence of Divine Mother’s Bliss. After the Rani’s passing away, Mathur Babu was in sole charge of her properties and the temples. He also took on the task of taking care of Sri Ramakrishna and his health.

Four years before Sarada Devi came to Dakshineswar, Mathur Babu started on a pilgrimage, persuading Sri Ramakrishna also to accompany him.

Sri Ramakrishna was very much touched at the misery and poverty of the people he saw on his way. At Deogarh in Odisha state, he told Mathur Babu to feed the whole village sumptuously and distribute to all of them clothes which involved considerable expense. Although Mathur Babu was reluctant to do this at first, he had to yield as Sri Ramakrishna was so stubborn and determined about it. Sri Ramakrishna had declared that all those people were ‘Daridra narayanas’ and should be lovingly looked after, and which process was indeed true worship of God. He said he would stay back there and would not follow further, if the village people were not fed and given clothes.

As they approached Varanasi by boat across the river Ganga, the city of Siva appeared to him to be made of gold, as if it were’ a condensed mass of spirituality’. While their boat was passing up the Manikaranika Ghat, lo! He saw lord Mahadev uttering the ‘Holy Mantra’ in to the ears Goddess Parvati approached and helped it to rise Heavenwards. This vision so exactly tallies with what was stated in Skanda Purana about persons dying in Kasi and getting Satgadi or Salvation.

The pilgrim party visited Mathura and Vrindavan, rich with countless sweet memories of Sri Krishna. Sri Ramakrishna was in an effable spiritual and ecstatic mood during the fortnight they were in there.

The party had planned to visit Gaya also but Sri Ramakrishna himself dissuaded Mathur Babu in this matter. He thought that if he once visited that sacred place, his mind would leave the physical plane for ever. He had heard of his father’s vision at Gaya and felt that his mind would get permanently absorbed and merged in God there, if visited it. He had already been convinced that he was to be an instrument of the Mother for fulfilling the mission of redemption of the people. The party, therefore, returned to Calcutta without visiting Gaya.

It was now Sixteen years since Mathur Babu first met Sri Ramakrishna; contact with the latter had brought in a complete spiritual metamorphosis in the former. In July, 1871, he fell seriously ill, and was taken to Kalighat. That day Sri Ramakrishna fell into a deep trance which lasted for two or three hours. As he came out of the trance at about 5 pm.. he called out to Hriday saying that Mathur’s soul had merged in the Divine Mother. Late in the night, news reached Dakshineshwar that Mathur Babu had died exactly at 5’ o clock that evening…. Blessed was Mathur Babu to have had such a close contact with Sri Ramakrishna during the most eventful epoch of the latter’s life, and, like his mother in law, he too was redeemed by his devotion to Sri Ramakrishna and the Mother.

His Disciples – Vivekananda and Others

From 1879 onwards, disciples started coming and flocking around Sri Ramakrishna. He was instrumental in making his impact not only on the common and simple folks but also on the modern – educated and intellectual young men of the time. Many agnostics came merely for the sake of curiosity, but shed their agnosticism after seeing and contacting him. They saw in him a tangible proof of God. For seven years, till his death, he was preaching the divine gospel to whoever came to him. He built around him a band of dynamic disciples like Vivekananda, who later were to carry the Torch of India’s Spiritual light in its full blaze not only throughout India but even to the farthest corners of the world. He brought out old spiritual truths to light and gave concrete proof of their eternal validity.

The Closing Scene

The closing years of Sri Ramakrishna’s life, however, though full of pathos, were as sublime and graceful as the mellowed beauty of a glorious sunset. With people flocking to him all the time, each one securing spiritual rebirth as it were, he was wearing himself out, over- exerting himself beyond the endurance of the physical body.

In 1885, as the Prarabdha Karma also had to run out its course, he developed pain in the throat. It took a serious turn; he was taken to Calcutta to a spacious Garden house at Cossipore. His disciples, Narendra Nath and others and mother Sarada Devi were attending on him constantly. Sri Ramakrishna knew that his end on the physical plane was drawing near. He made Narendra Nath his spiritual heir and entrusted all the other disciples to his care. He blessed each one of them. He initiated Narendra with the Mantra of Rama Nama. It produced a miraculous effect upon Narendra Nath; he instantly went into divine ecstasy.

A few days before Sri Ramakrishna took Samadhi, he called Narendra to his side. There was nobody else in the room. He made Narendra sit before him and gazing at him fell into Samadhi. Narendra felt a subtle force like an electric shock penetrating into his body. Gradually, he too lost consciousness, he found Sri Ramakrishna in tears. The Master said to him, “ Today I have given all my powers to you and have become a Fakir myself! Through this power, you will do immense good to the world.” In this way, Sri Ramakrishna passed on all his spiritual treasures to Narendra to keep the torch alight for the good of mankind.

A couple of days later, seeing the Master ‘suffering’, a doubt crept into Narendra’s mind whether he was really divine. Strange to say, the moment this thought came to him, Sri Ramakrishna muttered out distinctly,” He who was Rama and who was Krishna is now Sri Ramakrishna in this body, not just in Vedantic sense, but in reality.” Narendra was overtaken by remorse for having doubted the Master even after so many revelations.

On Sunday, the 15th August, 1886, in the evening the Master went into Samadhi. After midnight, he regained consciousness and uttered in a clear voice the name of Kali three times. Suddenly, at two minutes past one, his eyes became fixed on the tip of his nose, the face lighting up with a smile; and the Master entered Maha Samadhi.

Thus, the curtain drops on one of the most glorious chapters in the spiritual history of India. As Vivekananda put it, “The books are only theories, but he was the realization; this man had in fifty one years lived five thousand years of national spiritual life and so raised himself as an object – lesson for all future generations to come.”

Sri Ramakrishna’s life represents the entire orbit of Hinduism, not just a segment of it, such as Theism or Vedanta… He was a Jnani as well as a Bhakta. To him, God was both Personal and Impersonal. He laid equal emphasis on both the householder’s life as well as that of the Sanyasin with its renunciation and Yoga. And he held that all religions were branches of the same tree. He demonstrated the liberating power of religion if it is properly practiced.

Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual light continues to shine even to this day, and it will continue to shine forever. Let us cherish his teachings and make an earnest effort to live upto them.

“Do your duties, but keep your mind on God. If you participate in worldly matters without first cultivating love for God, you will become entangled more and more. Before opening a jackfruit, one rubs the hands with oil. This keeps the fingers from becoming sticky with the Jack fruit’s juice milk.”

“You see many stars at night in the sky but find them not when the sun rises; Can you say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? So, oh man, because you behold not God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.”

“Pray to Him in any way you will. He is sure to hear you, for He hears even the football of an ant.”

Reference: Gurus Guide – Path Divine Group III Balvikas