A SHORT LIFE

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

SWAMI TEJASANANDA

(Publication Department)

5 Dehi Entally Road

Calcutta 700 014

Published by Swami Mumukshananda

President, Advaita Ashrama Mayavati, Pithoragarh, Himalayas from its

Publication Department, Calcutta

Fifteenth Impression, October 1996

3M3C

ISBN 81-7505-072-1

Printed in India at

Gipidi Box Co.

3B Chatu Babu Lane

Calcutta 700 014

PREFACE

This is in response to a great demand for a shorter biography of Sri

Ramakrishna whose message is spreading far and wide with ever-increasing

rapidity. The matter is taken mostly from the Life of Sri Ramakrishna,

published by us, though other available books have been consulted and the

plan is quite different. A few sayings of Sri Ramakrishna have been given

towards the end of the book, so that a complete picture of the Master can be

had, as far as possible, within a small compass. We hope this short volume

will arouse in many readers an interest for studying the life of Sri

Ramakrishna in detail.

Advaita Ashrama

PUBLISHER

Mayavati

February 13, 1940

CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

I INTRODUCTORY

II PARENTAGE

III BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

IV IN THE TEMPLE-GARDEN OF

DAKSHINESWAR

V THE DIVINE MOTHER

VI GOD-INTOXICATION

VII BHAIRAVI BRAHMANI AND A VAISHNAVA SAINT

VIII ONE WITH THE ABSOLUTE

IX TRAVELLING INTO OTHER FAITHS

X FINDING DIVINITY IN THE WIFE

XI PILGRIMAGE

XII CONTACT WITH SOME NOTABLES

XIII THE COMING OF THE DEVOTEES

XIV MONASTIC DISCIPLES

XV WOMEN DEVOTEES

XVI LAST DAYS

100

XVII END OF THE DRAMA

107

XVIII AFTER THE PASSING

117

SOME SAYINGS

122

INTRODUCTORY

The history of a nation is not made in a day. It is the result of centuries of

silent working of manifold creative forces. It is in this way that the

distinctive culture of a nation is formed. The history of India proves that a

nation which stands loyal to its cultural traditions can never die.

Religion is the backbone of Indian national life. From the hoary past India

has passed through numberless vicissitudes. That she has survived them is

due to the fact that the nation has remained true to its spiritual instinct. At

every time of spiritual crisis in Indian national life there has been born a

saint or a prophet who has saved the nation from the impending danger. Sri

Krishna, Buddha, Shankara, Nanak, Chaitanya—each fulfilled a great

demand of the age in which he was born.

The nineteenth century saw India faced with a great crisis. With the British

conquest of India came the invasion of Western civilization upon the

country. Awed by the material power of the conquering nation, Indians

hailed everything

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Western as a thing to be welcomed. In the meanwhile Christianity—one of

the greatest proselytiz-ing religions of the world—began to work silently

for a thorough cultural conquest of the land.

At this psychological moment appeared Sri Ramakrishna, the embodiment

of the spirit of India’s culture and religion. He opened the eyes of the

Indians to the beauty, grandeur, and strength of Hinduism at a time when

their faith in it had greatly slackened. His life stood as a bulwark against

those alien forces which attempted to undermine the spirit of Indian

civilization.

Sri Ramakrishna was born not only to save Hinduism from a dire calamity,

but also, as it were, to resuscitate all faiths. As a result of his having

practised other religions besides his own and directly experiencing all to be

true, any man belonging to any religion will find his faith in his own system

strengthened. As such Sri Ramakrishna’s life is sure to stem the tide of the

general disbelief in religion all the world over. Already the influence of his

spiritual realizations has travelled abroad. Who will doubt that it will gather

strength as years roll on? For Sri Ramakrishna represented not only

Hinduism but all faiths.

PARENTAGE

Towards the middle of the eighteenth century there lived in the village of

Derepore in the District of Hooghly, Bengal, a Brahmin family of which

Manik Ram Chattopadhyaya was the head. He was a pious and kind-hearted

man. With fifty acres of land at his disposal, he was able to meet the needs

of his family as also to lend a helping hand to the poor and distressed of the

village in times of calamity. In about 1775 he was blessed with a son who

was named Khudiram. Two other sons and a daughter were also

subsequently born to him. After the death of Manik Ram, the entire charge

of the family devolved on his eldest son, Khudiram, who, trained in the

family traditions of an orthodox house, was eminently fitted to attend to the

manifold religious and secular duties of the household.

Both Khudiram and his wife, Srimati Chandramani, were exceptionally

devoted to their tutelary deity Sri Ramachandra, and soon earned the love,

respect, and admiration of the villagers for their charity, truthfulness, and

kindness.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

In 1814 an incident of the great importance occurred in the life of

Khudiram. He was called upon by the local zamindar to give false evidence

in support of a case which the latter had brought against one of his tenants.

But so fearless was Khudiram’s integrity that he was prepared to stake his

all rather than deviate an inch from the path of truth and rectitude. His stout

refusal to comply with the request of the landlord entailed on him in its turn

a heavy persecution which ultimately led him to leave his ancestral house

for good. Penniless and homeless, Khudiram bade adieu to Derepore and

made his new home in a neighbouring village named Kamarpukur, where,

through the benevolence of one of his friends, he got half an acre of very

fertile land, which supplied the simple needs of the family.

The village of Kamarpukur is situated in the western extremity of the

District of Hooghly, on the road leading to the holy place of Puri or

Jagannath. The village was highly prosperous and noted for its manifold

arts and crafts. The flourishing condition of the place is even now testified

to by the debris of its old buildings and the ruins of great walls and temples

as also by the existence of some large tanks. Khudiram began his life anew

in the midst of the quiet and peaceful surroundings of this village, and soon

attracted the notice and gained the respect of his neighbours.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 11

One day, while returning from a neighbouring village, Khudiram strangely

came into possession of the emblem of his tutelary deity Raghuvir in a

paddy field. He took it home and began to worship it as his own Ishta. Both

Khudiram and Chandra made a profound impression upon the villagers by

their exemplary life and unswerving spirit of devotion to their beloved deity

as also by their overflowing kindness to all who came to their door for help

and succour. Thus though the home of Khudiram never smiled in affluence,

it was a source of great solace to many an aching heart.

After six years’ residence in Kamarpukur, Khudiram got his son and

daughter married. Ramkumar, which was the name of the son, in the

meanwhile had become quite proficient in Hindu lore, and was able to

relieve, to a certain extent, his father’s family burden by earning something.

So Khudiram had now more time at his disposal to devote himself to

religious practices. In the year 1824 he went on foot on a pilgrimage to

Rameshwaram in South India, which lasted about a year. Twelve months

later, in 1826, his wife Chandra gave birth to her second son, who was

named Rameshwar. About eleven years later, in 1835, Khudiram went on

another pilgrimage—this time to Gaya. Here, after the performance of the

sacred rites, he had a strange vision at night. He dreamt that he was in the

temple of Vishnu, where

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

his forefathers were feasting on the sacred offerings he had made. Suddenly

a flood of celestial light filled the holy precincts of the shrine, and the

spirits of the departed fell on their kness to pay homage to a Divine

Presence seated on a throne. The effulgent One beckoned to Khudiram,

who, coming near, prostrated himself before Him and heard the luminous

Person saying, ‘I am well pleased at your sincere devotion. I shall be born

in your cottage and accept you as my father.’ Khudiram awoke with his

heart thrilled with joy. He understood that a Divine Being would bless his

house very soon.

About the same time Chandra Devi was also having strange visions at

Kamarpukur. One night she dreamt that a luminous person exactly like her

husband was lying by her side. Another day, while standing with Dhani (a

village blacksmith woman) before the Shiva temple adjacent to her house,

Chandra saw a bright beam of divine effulgence dart from the image of

Lord Shiva and enter her.

Chandra was overpowered, and fell unconscious on the ground. Dhani

nursed her back to consciousness, but from that time Chandra began to feel

as if she were quick with child. On Khudiram’s return to Kamarpukur,

Chandra narrated this event to her husband with her characteristic candour

and simplicity. But Khudiram, who had already had the strange vision at

Gaya, was now completely convinced that they

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 13

were soon to be blessed with a divine child. He advised her not to speak of

her visions to any one.

Chandra was greatly consoled, and passed her days in complete resignation

to the will of Raghuvir.

III

BIRTH AND BOYHOOD

The blessed hour for which Khudiram and Chandra were anxiously waiting

at last drew near.

In the early hours of the morning of February 18, 1836, Chandra gave birth

to a boy whom the world was to know afterwards by the name of Sri

Ramakrishna. Learned astrologers predicted a great future for the child, and

Khudiram was overjoyed that the prospective greatness of his son

confirmed his previous vision and the experience of Chandra.

He named him Gadadhar in memory of his wonderful dream at Gaya.

Since his very birth Gadadhar cast a spell of fascination not only over his

parents and relatives but also over his neighbours, who could not help

paying visit to Khudiram’s house whenever possible just to have a look at

‘Gadai’—as he was lovingly called.

The years rolled on, and Gadadhar was now five years old. He began to

show wonderful intelligence and memory even at this early age. The

precocious boy learnt by heart the names of his

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 15

ancestors, the hymns to various gods and goddesses, and tales from the

great national epics.

As he grew to be very restless, Khudiram sent him to the village school. At

school Gadadhar made fair progress, but he showed great distaste for

mathematics. He directed all his attention to the study of the lives and

characters of spiritual heroes.

Constant study of those subjects often made him forgetful of the world and

threw him into deep meditation. As he grew older, he began to have trances

whenever his religious feelings were roused. Soon it was found that not

only religious subjects but beautiful scenery or some touching incident was

also sufficient to make him lose himself. Once an occurrence of this kind

caused great anxiety to his parents and relatives. Sri Ramakrishna in later

years narrated this incident to his devotees in the following way:

‘In that part of the country (that is, Kamarpukur) the boys are given puffed

rice for snack.

This they carry in small wicker baskets, or, if they are too poor, in a corner

of their cloth. Then they go out for play on the roads or in the fields. One

day in June or July, when I was six or seven years old, I was walking along

a narrow path separating paddy fields, eating some of the puffed rice which

I was carrying in a basket. Looking up at the sky I saw a beautiful sombre

thunder cloud. As it spread rapidly enveloping the whole sky, a flock of

snow-

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

white cranes flew overhead across it. It presented such a beautiful contrast

that my mind wandered to far-off regions. Lost to outward sense, I fell

down, and the puffed rice was scattered in all directions.

Some people found me in that plight and carried me home in their arms.

That was the first time I completely lost consciousness in ecstasy.’ But this

was not the only time he had such an experience.

On two other occasions also in his boyhood—once while accompanying a

group of elderly ladies of the village who were going for the worship of a

deity in a neighbouring village, and again, while playing the role of Shiva in

the village dramatic performance on a Shivaratri night—the boy Gadadhar

passed into deep trance, and it was with great difficulty that he could be

brought back to the plane of normal consciousness.

In the year 1843 Khudiram died, and the entire burden of the family fell

upon the shoulders of Ramkumar, his 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 as also the transitoriness of

earthly life. Though very young, he began to frequent the neighbouring

mango-grove or the cremation ground in the vicinity and pass long hours

there absorbed in thought. But he did not forget his duty to his loving

mother. He became less exacting in his importunities, and tried every

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 17

means to lessen the burden of his mother’s grief, and to infuse into her

melancholy life whatever joy and consolation he could.

Gadadhar soon found a new source of pleasure in the company of

wandering monks who used to stay for a day or two in the rest-house built

by the neighbouring Laha family for wayfarers. One day Chandra was

startled to find her dear boy appear before her with his whole body smeared

with ashes and with pieces of cloth put on like a wandering holy man.

Association with these itinerant monks and listening to their readings from

the scriptures inclined the naturally emotional mind of the boy more and

more to meditation and kindled in him the latent spirit of dispassion for all

worldly concerns.

Gadadhar was now nine, and it was time to invest him with the holy thread.

A curious incident happened in this connection. It is the traditional custom

in a Brahmin family that just after the investiture, the newly initiated should

accept his first alms from some relative or at least from a Brahmin of the

same social standing. But Dhani, the blacksmith woman who had tended the

child in the lying-in room, had long ago prayed to Gadadhar to allow her

the privilege of giving him the first Bhiksha (alms), and the boy, moved by

her genuine love, had agreed. After the investiture ceremony was over,

Gadadhar, in spite of the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

repeated objections of other members of the house, kept his promise and

accepted his first alms from this Shudra woman in contravention of the

time-honoured custom of his Brahmin family. But the event, however

trifling, is not without significance.

This unyielding love of truth and rising above social convention at this

tender age reflected in no small measure Gadadhar ’s latent spiritual

potentiality and foresight and disclosed the real stuff the boy was made of.

It showed that true love and devotion were more to him than social

restrictions.

Gadadhar’s inborn qualities of head and heart became manifest on more

than one occasion at this time. Shortly after the thread ceremony an incident

occurred bringing him for the first time before the villagers as a teacher. He

was then only ten years old. One day he was listening with rapt attention to

an animated discussion held by certain scholars on some subtle point in the

house of the local zamindar. The boy, understanding their difficulty in

arriving at the proper solution, made a suggestion to one of the Pandits and

asked whether such might not be the answer. The solution of Gadadhar was

so appropriate and pertinent to the point under discussion that the scholars

were amazed at such mental maturity in one so young.

But from now on the boys’ aversion for school increased. He often played

truant in the company

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 19

of other boys of the school, and passed a great portion of the day in various

sports. Gadadhar trained a number of young boys in the histrionic art and

held performances in the neighbouring mango orchard. Gadadhar’s

favourite themes were the various incidents in the life of Sri Krishna. The

boy, with his fair complexion and flowing hair, a garland about his neck and

a flute to his lips, would often play the part of Sri Krishna. Overwhelmed

with the emotion associated with these themes, he would fall into frequent

trances. At times the whole mango-grove would ring with the loud

Sankirtanas which the boys sang in chorus. Thus, deeply absorbed in these

divine sports, Gadadhar lost all taste for school education and engaged

himself more and more in the study of the epics, Puranas, and other sacred

books, which gave him ample spiritual stimulus. But this other-worldly

attitude of the boy caused a great deal of anxiety to his elder brothers.

Soon another misfortune overtook the family.

The wife of Ramkumar died, leaving an infant son behind to be taken care

of by the aged grandmother.

At this time Ramkumar’s income also unexpectedly diminished, and being

forced into debt, he went to Calcutta and opened a Tol (school for the study

of Sanskrit) at Jhamapukur in the central part of the city to earn some

money to meet the financial needs of the family. The management of the

house

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

naturally fell on Rameshwar. But as before, Gadadhar was unmindful of his

school studies. He spent a great portion of his time in worshipping Raghuvir

or in reading passages from the holy books, and in helping his aged mother

in her domestic duties. As days rolled on, his aversion to academic

education became more pronounced.

And soon the idea dawned on him that he was destined to fulfil some great

mission in life, though he did not know what. The realization of God was to

him the only purpose worthy of consideration.

Much as he would have liked to have taken up the begging bowl and

renounced everything for the Lord’s sake, the thought of the plight of his

unprovided mother and brothers made him forgo his desire. In the struggle

between the two ideas he was powerless to decide, and could do nothing but

resign himself to the guidance of Raghuvir, fully believing that He would

show him the way out of this distressing situation.

Meanwhile, Ramkumar began to experience great difficulty in managing

alone all his duties in Calcutta. On one of his visits to Kamarpukur he

noticed Gadadhar’s peculiar indifference towards school, and when he

learned that Gadadhar had given up his friends and playmates, he decided to

take him to Calcutta, where he might supervise Gadadhar’s studies and have

him help in his manifold works. Gadadhar readily agreed to this

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 21

proposal, and on an auspicious day set out for Calcutta with the blessings of

Raghuvir and his mother.

When Gadadhar came to Calcutta, he was entrusted with the duties of a

priest, which he was glad to discharge. Here too by his simplicity, integrity

of character, and winning manners he soon formed a circle of friends and

admirers, all belonging to respectable families. But when, after some

months, Gadadhar still showed no interest in his studies, Ramkumar

naturally got annoyed, and one day took the boy aside and admonished him

for his apathy towards education and his general indifference. ‘Brother,

what shall I do with a mere bread-winning education?’—was the spirited

reply of the boy. ‘I would rather acquire that wisdom which will illumine

my heart and getting which one is satisfied for ever.’ Ramkumar could

hardly understand the full import of this laconic answer, as he was quite

ignorant of the phenomenal mental transformation of this wonderful boy,

who now more than ever, realized that he was born for purposes different

from those of the ordinary run of men. So Ramkumar was puzzled to hear

the straight and pointed reply from his youngest brother. All his arguments

to prevail upon the boy to pursue his studies with zeal and enthusiasm

proved fruitless. He had therefore no alternative but to leave everything to

the will of

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Raghuvir, until a new event, with far-reaching consequences in the life of

young Gadadhar, came to pass in a most unexpected manner.

IN THE TEMPLE-GARDEN OF

DAKSHINESWAR

At that time there was living in Calcutta a rich widow of great piety named

Rani Rasmani. In 1847

she spent a fortune to found a temple to the great goddess Kali on the

eastern bank of the Ganga at Dakshineswar, which is four miles to the north

of Calcutta. In the midst of a rectangular paved courtyard stood the vast

temple of Kali, the sovereign Deity, and another dedicated to Krishna and

Radha. Both were connected by an open terrace above the Ganga between a

double row of twelve Shiva temples. In addition to the temples there were a

spacious music hall, rooms for the temple-staff, two ‘concert-rooms’, and

quarters for the Rani’s family. There was, besides, a beautiful garden with

two tanks and a large banyan tree which played a great part in Sri

Ramakrishna’s life.

The date for the installation of the image of the goddess Kali was fixed for

May 31, 1855. The Rani was eager to spend any amount to make this

function a splendid success; but, unfortunately, she

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 25

being a Shudra by caste, no orthodox Brahmin could be procured to

officiate as her priest or partake of the sacramental food in her temple; for,

according to the orthodox custom of the time, it was derogatory to a

Brahmin to worship for a Shudra or to accept gifts from such. The Rani

made frantic efforts to collect the opinions of renowned Pandits in her

favour on this matter, but none of the answers were acceptable, except that

which came from the Tol of Jhamapukur. Ramkumar informed the Rani that

if she made a gift of the Kali temple to a Brahmin, endowing it with

adequate funds for mainte-nance, it would be quite in keeping with the

injunctions of the scriptures, and no Brahmin would be considered degraded

by acting as a priest or partaking of the food offered there. The solution

came to the Rani as a godsend in the hours of her greatest mental agony and

despair, and she eventually succeeded in getting Ramkumar himself as the

priest in the temple of the goddess Kali. The temple was consecrated with

great pomp to the unbounded joy and relief of the pious-hearted Rani.

After a few days, Gadadhar also began to live with his brother in the sacred

temple-garden of Dakshineswar, in the calm and congenial atmosphere

where he felt quite at home and found greater opportunities to pursue his

spiritual practices.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

It was at this time that Hriday, a young man destined to be a close

companion of Sri Ramakrishna for twenty-five years and a faithful

attendant during the stormy days of his Sadhana appeared on the scene. He

was the nephew of Gadadhar. His presence at Dakshineswar delighted

Gadadhar’s heart beyond measure as he found in him a trustworthy

associate to whom he could open his heart in moments of trouble and

difficulty.

Soon the eyes of Mathuranath Biswas, 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 work quite

suitable to his temperament, Gadadhar gave himself heart and soul to the

task, and in leisure hours entertained the goddess with devotional songs

which kept everybody enthralled and spellbound.

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. One day the priest of the Radha-kanta temple, while taking the

image of Krishna to the retiring room, suddenly slipped, and one leg of the

image was broken. This gave rise to a great commotion in the temple, and

the priest was summarily dismissed from service for his

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 27

carelessness. The Pandits, who were called to advise the Rani as to what

should be done under the circumstances, unanimously came to the decision

that the image should be thrown into the Ganga and a new one installed in

its place, as it was contrary to the scriptures to worship the Lord in a broken

image. This decision did not appeal to the pious Rani, who, at the

suggestion of Mathur, sought the opinion of Sri Ramakrishna on the matter.

After hearing the whole story, he exclaimed in an exalted mood, ‘Their

solution is ridiculous. If a son-in-law of the Rani fractured his leg, would

she discard him and put another in his stead?

Would she not rather arrange for his treatment?

Why not do the same thing here? Let the image be repaired and worshipped

as before.’ The Pandits were puzzled to learn the ruling of the young priest.

It did not satisfy the scholars at first, but they finally had to accept it. The

joy of the Rani knew no bounds. Sri Ramakrishna, who was an adept in

modelling, undertook to repair the limb at the request of the Rani and did it

so adroitly that even careful scrutiny did not reveal where the break had

been.Sri Ramakrishna was now made the priest of the Radha-kanta temple,

and Hriday was appointed to assist Ramkumar in dressing and decorating

the image of Kali.

THE DIVINE MOTHER

Sri Ramakrishna adapted himself to his new station and forgot everything

else. Ramkumar, being troubled by Sri Ramakrishna’s love for solitude and

growing indifference to the world, resolved to teach him the elaborate

procedure of the worship of Kali, so that, later, he might assume the task

quite efficiently. As it is not considered advisable to undertake the worship

of Shakti, or Kali, without being properly initiated, Sri Ramakrishna, at the

advice of his elder brother, got the necessary initiation from a Brahmin in

Calcutta named Kenaram Bhattacharya who was noted for his devotion and

experience. It is said that as soon as the sacred Mantra was uttered in his

ears, Sri Ramakrishna, overwhelmed with religious fervour, gave a shout

and plunged into deep concentration, which greatly astonished the Guru.

From this time forward Ramakumar asked his brother now and then to take

over the worship of the Divine Mother, while he himself worshipped at the

altar of Radha-kanta instead. Ramkumar was now aged and decided to go

home for a change. Sri

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 29

Ramakrishna was therefore permanently put in charge of the worship of

Kali. But Ramkumar was not destined to see his home again for he breathed

his last at a place a few miles north of Calcutta. His death came to the

young priest as a great shock and a revelation. It occurred at a time when he

was fast realizing the transitoriness of the world, and all his energies were

now given to the search for something that was real and imperishable.

While those about him were wasting time in all sorts of frivolity, he was

burning day and night with a consuming thirst for God.

To Sri Ramakrishna the image of Kali was not an inert stone but the Mother

Herself. The Goddess wears a gorgeous Varanasi Sari and is decorated with

precious ornaments from head to foot. From Her neck hangs a garland of

skulls and round Her waist a girdle of human arms—made of gold. In Her

lower left hand She holds a decapitated human head, also made of gold, and

in the upper one a sword. With Her lower right hand She offers boons to

Her devotees; with the upper one is symbolized, ‘Fear nothing’. The skulls

and the sword represent Her terrible aspect, and Her right hands—offering

boons and assuring fearlessness—the benignant aspect.

She is both terrible and sweet—like Nature alter-nately destroying and

creating. This is the Deity whom Sri Ramakrishna worshipped, the

Preserver as well as the Destroyer. But to him She was ever the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

affectionate Mother—the Repository of all blessedness and power—sweet,

tender, and full of motherly solicitude, the Mother who with loving care

protects Her devotees from harm. To Her he offered his whole-souled

devotion, regarding Her as the only true guide in darkness and confusion.

From now on he began to shun the company of the worldly people. At

night, when everybody was asleep, he would arise and repair to the

adjoining dense jungle, returning after day-break, with eyes swollen as

though with much weeping, or showing the effects of prolonged meditation.

The realization of God became the one absorbing passion of the young

aspirant. He would shed profuse tears like a child at being denied the vision

of the Mother and would burst out crying, ‘O Mother! where art Thou?

Reveal Thyself to me. Ramprasad saw Thee and obtained Thy divine grace.

Am I a wretch that Thou dost not come to me? Pleasure, wealth, friends,

enjoyments—I do not want any of these. I only desire to see Thee, Mother.’

When the peal of evening bells in the temple announced the close of the

day, he would grow disconsolate and cry in the agony of his heart, ‘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!’

Owing to this intensity of religious fervour he could no longer conduct the

worship regularly.

He would sit before the image like a statue. While

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 31

meditating in the course of worship, he would put a flower on his head and

sit silent for a couple of hours, or while offering the food he would gaze at

the Mother as if She were actually partaking of it.

He was ridiculed at first for such strange acts, but his steady devotion ended

by commanding respect and admiration, though some still regarded him as

unbalanced. Mathur was charmed to see the God-intoxication of the young

priest and his ecstatic absorption in the divine service. Sri Ramakrishna was

perfectly indifferent to what people thought, and directed all his energies to

the realization of the goal he had set for himself. At last, when he was at the

limit of physical endurance, the veil was lifted, and he was blessed with the

vision of the Divine Mother. Sri Ramakrishna described his first experience

to his disciples afterwards as follows:

‘I was then suffering from excruciating pain, because I had not been blessed

with a vision of the Mother. I felt as if my heart were being wrung like a

wet towel. I was overpowered by a great restlessness and a fear that it might

not be my lot to realize Her in this life. I could not bear the separation any

longer; life did not seem worth living. Suddenly my eyes fell on the sword

that was kept in the Mother’s temple.

Determined to put an end to my life, I jumped up like a madman and seized

it, when suddenly the blessed Mother revealed Herself to me, and I fell

unconscious on the floor. What exactly happened after that, or how

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

that day or the next passed, I do not know, but within me there was a steady

flow of undiluted bliss altogether new, and I felt the presence of the Divine

Mother.’

Since then, his constant prayer was to have a repetition of this divine vision.

He would cry so bitterly that people gathered about him to watch. ‘I

scarcely realized their presence,’ the Master afterwards said, ‘they looked

more like shadows or painted pictures than real objects, and I did not feel

the least abashed at displaying my feelings before them. But the moment I

lost outward consciousness in a paroxysm of pain at separation from the

Mother, I would find Her sanding before me in her matchless radiant form,

granting boons to her devotees and bidding them be of good cheer! I used to

see Her smiling, talking, consoling, or teaching me in various ways.’From

this time onward his attitude towards the Mother changed. He became like a

child, confident that his inability to see Her whenever he wished was

because She, in a playful mood was purposely hiding Herself. His self-

surrender was now complete. ‘O Mother,’ he would pray day and night, ‘I

have taken refuge in Thee; teach me what to do or say. Thy will is

paramount everywhere and is for the benefit of Thy children. Merge my ego

in Thy will and make me Thy instrument.’ As his realization deepened, the

vision of the Mother

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 33

became luminous. Formerly he regarded the stone image of Kali as

possessed of consciousness, now the image disappeared, and in its stead

there stood the Living Mother Herself, smiling and blessing him. ‘I actually

felt Her breath on my hand,’ the Master used to say later. ‘At night when

the room was lighted, I never saw Her divine form cast any shadow on the

walls, even though I looked closely.

From my own room I could hear Her going to the upper storey of the

temple, with the delight of a girl, Her anklets jingling. To see if I were not

mistaken, I would follow and find Her standing with flowing hair on the

balcony of the first floor, looking either at Calcutta or out over the Ganga.’

Hriday was able to give many interesting details of these days. He used to

say: ‘Whenever one entered the temple, a thrill would be felt, specially

when my uncle was worshipping, as though there were a living Presence

there. I could never resist the temptation of watching him. His strange

manner of worship filled me with wonder and reverence; at the same time I

often questioned his sanity, for his actions were contrary to the injunctions

of the Shastras (scriptures). I was much afraid of what Rani Rasmani and

Mathur Babu would do if the news of his conduct reached them.’ Of Sri

Ramakrishna’s method of worship, he would say: ‘I noticed that my uncle,

taking flowers and Bel leaves in his hand would touch his own head, chest,

in fact, the whole

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

body, including the feet, and then offer them at the feet of Kali. At other

times, with eyes and chest flushed, he would move like a drunkard with

tottering steps from his seat to the throne of the goddess, touch her chin as a

sign of endearment, and begin to sing, talk, joke, or laugh, or even dance,

taking the image by the hand!! Sometimes he would approach the throne

with a morsel of food in his hand and putting it to Her lips, entreat Her to

eat.…Again, at the time of worship he would become so deeply absorbed in

meditation that there would be no sign of external consciousness. Every

morning, as he picked the flowers for the Divine Mother’s garlands, I saw

him speaking to somebody, or loughing, or indulging in merriment! He

never closed his eyes during the night; whenever I awoke I found him in an

exalted mood, talking to some one, singing, or sitting in deep meditation

where the Panchavati1 is now.’

1Meaning a cluster of the five sacred trees, namely, Ashwattha, Bel,

Amalaka, Ashoka, and Vata or Banyan.

Such a place is considered very holy and helpful to meditation.

GOD-INTOXICATION

All these but confirmed the belief of the temple officials that Sri

Ramakrishna must be mad. So they sent a detailed report about these things

to Mathur at Calcutta. Soon after this, Mathur paid a surprise visit to the

temple, and he was struck with wonder at what he saw. It did not take

Mathur long to decide that Sri Ramakrishna’s method of worship was the

outcome of a genuine and profound love for the Divine Mother, the like of

which is seldom encoun-tered. Convinced that the object of building and

maintaining the temple had been attained, he returned to his home and sent

an order the next day to the temple Superintendent that the young priest was

to have complete freedom to worship in any way he chose, and that he was

not to be interfered with.

Rani Rasmani was greatly attracted to Sri Ramakrishna, for she felt that his

strange behaviour bespoke the fullness of devotion rather than any mental

derangement. One day she came to Dakshineswar and after bathing in the

Ganga

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

entered the temple to worship and meditate. She later requested Sri

Ramakrishna to sing some songs to the Mother. Slowly the music arose

from the heart of the devotee; like a fountain of heavenly bliss it bathed his

whole being with ecstasy. After a time, the Rani began thinking of some

important lawsuit.

Noticing her inattentiveness, Sri Ramakrishna gave her a sharp rebuke. At

this the Rani’s heart was filled with remorse that worldly thoughts could so

influence her mind as to turn it away from the divine bliss which the young

priest was lavishly showering on her. Rasmani retired to her room.

When her attendants complained of Sri Ramakrishna’s insolence towards

her, she answered, ‘You do not understand; the Divine Mother Herself

punished me and thus illumined my heart.’

This incident, however, led Mathur to suspect that there might be some

nervous trouble in Sri Ramakrishna. So he arranged for his treatment by an

expert physician, Kaviraj Ganga Prasad Sen of Calcutta. The treatment,

though continued for some time, brought no relief. Mathur tried to persuade

Sri Ramakrishna to keep his feelings within bounds and to regulate his life

in accordance with fixed standards. As Mathur came in closer touch with

Sri Ramakrishna and saw more of the Master, he inwardly began to look up

to him as a Guru.

The relation between the two soon grew to be one

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 37

of mutual trust and confidence. Sri Ramakrishna would candidly tell of his

extraordinary visions to Mathur and also ask his opinion. Mathur, finding in

him a happy combination of prophetic wisdom with the innocence of a

child, concluded that Sri Ramakrishna’s body was to be his special care,

just as in the subtle spiritual domain he himself was protected and guided

by the Master. Mathur counted it a rare privilege to be of the least service to

the Master, and served him for fourteen years with uncommon zeal and

devotion.

Sri Ramakrishna had a catholic spirit from the very beginning. He made no

distinction between one form of God and another. The realization of one

aspect of the Reality inspired him to take up another and to follow it with

unflinching devotion till that aspect of Truth revealed itself. He now felt a

strong urge to realize Sri Rama, who is regarded as an Incarnation of the

Lord Himself. He therefore took upon himself the task of reproducing as

faithfully as possible the attitude of Hanuman towards Rama—that of the

faithful servant towards the master.

At the end of this Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) he had a wonderful vision,

so exceedingly vivid and so different from any of his previous ones that it

remained long in his memory.

One day while he was seated in the Panchavati, a luminous female figure of

exquisite grace slowly

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

advanced from the north towards him, looking graciously on him all the

while. The idea soon flashed within him that she must be Sita whose whole

life had been centred in Rama. She suddenly entered into Sri Ramakrishna’s

body with the significant remark that she bequeathed the smile on her lips

unto him. This was the first vision Sri Ramakrishna had with eyes wide

open, without meditating on anything. Ultimately this Sadhana was

crowned with the realization of Rama as an Incarnation of God.

About this time one evening Sri Ramakrishna felt an irritating sensation in

his palate, which after a minute began to bleed. He described the incident as

follows: ‘The colour of the blood was dark like the juice of bean leaves. It

was so thick that only a little portion fell to the ground and the rest clotted

and hung like a string from my teeth.…I was sorely perplexed. Fortunately,

at that time there was staying in the Kali temple a Sadhu (holy man) who,

hearing of the incident, came and examined the colour of the blood and the

place from which it came. He said, “Thank God! There is no cause for

anxiety. This haemorrhage has done you great good.

I see you were practising Yoga. This opened your Sushumna canal and a

quantity of blood was rushing to the head. It is excellent that this blood,

instead of reaching the brain, made a passage through the palate; or you

would have entered the Jada

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 39

Samadhi (the highest form of concentration mentioned in the Yoga-Shastra)

from which you could never again have come down to the plane of ordinary

consciousness. It must be that the Divine Mother has some great mission to

be done through you, and She has saved your body.” I was reassured by his

words and was at peace.’

One day Haladhari (Sri Ramakrishna’s cousin who acted as priest of the

Kali temple for some time) cast aspersions on the truth of Sri

Ramakrishna’s God-visions and said, on the authority of the scriptures, that

God is beyond the reach of the human mind. That gave rise to grave doubts

in the mind of Sri Ramakrishna. He thus described his feelings and the

subsequent experience to one of his disciples, Swami Premananda: ‘…With

sobs I prayed to the Mother, “How couldst Thou have the heart to deceive

me like that because I was a fool?” A stream of tears flowed from my eyes.

Shortly after, I saw something like a volume of mist rising from the floor

and filling the space before me. In the midst of it appeared a fair face, calm

and highly expressive, with a flowing beard. Fixing its steady gaze upon me

the figure solemnly said,

“Well, remain on the threshold of relative consciousness!” Repeating this

thrice the face gently disappeared in the mist, which also dissolved. The

vision reassured me.’

Stories travelled to the people at Kamarpukur

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

that Sri Ramakrishna had gone completely mad.

Naturally this news made his mother Chandra as well as Rameshwar

extremely anxious. Chandra repeatedly wrote to Dakshineswar asking her

God-intoxicated son to come to Kamarpukur, where under her maternal care

and in the salubrious climate of the country his strained nerves might be

soothed and his health regained. Sri Ramakrishna obeyed the call and found

himself once again in the midst of the calm and peaceful surroundings of

his native village. But even here, notwithstand-ing all the tender care of the

affectionate mother and other relations, Sri Ramakrishna was at times

overwhelmed with the same feelings as those of the Dakshineswar days

when he was struggling to obtain a vision of the Divine Mother. There were

two cremation grounds at Kamarpukur. Sri Ramakrishna intended to

practise stern Tapasya (austerity); and choosing one of those places for this

purpose, he began to spend the whole day and a great part of every night

there in worship and meditation. However, a few months’ stay at

Kamarpukur did him much good, and he soon recovered his normal state of

mind to the great relief and joy of his aged mother.

Sri Ramakrishna was now twenty-three years of age, and he was as

indifferent as ever to all worldly concerns. His mother and brother wanted

to get him married so as to interest him in domestic

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 41

affairs, and began to search for a suitable bride. The search was vigorously

made but with no definite result. Sri Ramakrishna, finding his mother and

brother in a dejected state, said to them in a semiconscious mood: ‘It is

useless to try here and there.

Go to Jayrambati (a village three miles to the northwest of Kamarpukur)

and there you will find the bride providentially reserved for me in the house

of Ram Chandra Mukhopadhyaya.’ His prophetic words proved true to the

letter. A girl was found there who was five years and a few months old. But

Chandra Devi agreed to accept the girl as no other bride was available, and

the happy nuptial ceremony was performed without delay. After his

marriage Sri Ramakrishna stayed at Kamarpukur for about a year and a

half, as Chandra Devi would not allow him to leave her until he was

completely cured. Then taking leave of his mother and brother Sri

Ramakrishna returned to Dakshineswar.

On his return to Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna resumed his office, but

after a few days he was seized anew with the madness of God-realization.

Mathur placed him again under the treatment of Kaviraj Ganga Prasad Sen,

but with no result. Another famous physician was called in, whose

diagnosis proved to be correct. He declared that it was a case of divine

madness—the after-effect of some Yogic practices, which no medicine

could

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

cure.Referring to this period of his life Sri Ramakrishna often said

afterwards: ‘No sooner was one state transcended than another took its

place. Before that whirlwind, the sacred thread was blown away.

Not only that, even the wearing cloth hardly remained.…The idea of caste

lost all meaning for me. A low-caste man sent me a curry cooked by his

wife which I ate with relish. In the Panchavati I would sit in deep

meditation with my body perfectly still—losing all consciousness of the

outside world. At that time, for want of proper care, my hair was matted.

Birds would perch on my head and peck the grains of rice left there during

the time of worship. Often snakes would crawl over my motionless body,

and neither I nor the snake knew it. Oh, what visions flitted past my eyes,

day and night! As I sat down to meditate, I would find a Sannyasin

emerging from my body with a trident in hand and directing me to

concentrate my mind on God, leaving aside all other thoughts. He

threatened to plunge his weapon into my body if I did not do so.…An

ordinary man could not have borne a fraction of such tremendous fervour:

his body would have been shattered by a quarter of that emotion. I could

forget my indescribable pangs only by seeing the Mother in some form or

other for the greater part of the day and night. Otherwise this body could

not have survived. For six years

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 43

these eyes remained wide open, not a wink of sleep visited them. I could

not close the eyelids however much I might try to do so. I had no idea of

time nor of the body. When the mind, at rare intervals, came down to a

lower plane and I had a faint idea of the body, a shudder of pain would pass

through me at the thought that I was going mad. Standing before a mirror I

would put my finger into my eyes to see if the eyelids would close, but they

would not.

Horrified, I would often burst into tears and pray,

“Mother, is this the result of praying and wholly surrendering myself unto

Thee? Ah! Thou hast visited me with a fell disease!” But the next moment I

would say, “Let it be as Thou wishest. Let this body go to pieces, but leave

me not. Reveal Thyself to me, be kind to Thy helpless son. O Mother, I

have taken shelter at Thy lotus feet. Thou art my only refuge.” As I prayed

thus, my mind would again be stimulated, this body would seem a trifle, not

worth thinking about, and the blissful Mother would appear before me and

console me with Her gracious words.’

One of his Sadhanas of this interesting period consisted in banishing from

his mind all attachment for wealth and the pride of superior birth.

Sitting on the bank of the Ganga, he took some earth in one hand and a few

rupees in the other, weighing their value mentally as he passed them from

hand to hand. Money, he said to himself, can

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

at best give only a comfortable living and some facilities for charity—that

is all. It cannot give realization of God, which is the only thing worth

having in life. Hence it has no more real value than this handful of earth.

Firmly impressing this idea on his mind, he finally consigned both to the

Ganga. Gradually this spirit of renunciation became the very breath of his

life. He could not even bear the touch of any coin. Any idea of material

possession produced a terrible pain in his mind and body. When, on the

death of Rani Rasmani, Mathur became the sole administrator of her vast

estate, he one day proposed to Sri Ramakrishna that he would set apart a

large property in his name.

At this the Master thundered, ‘What! Do you intend to make me a worldly

man?’ Mathur was dumbfounded and did not dare to raise such a topic

before him during the rest of his life. One day a rich Marwari gentleman,

Lakshmi Narayan by name, noticed a soiled carpet on the Master’s bed at

Dakshineswar and at once offered to deposit in the bank in his name a sum

of ten thousand rupees, so that his needs might be supplied. The proposal

was so painful to Sri Ramakrishna that he besought him with folded hands

never to mention the subject again. The Marwari still insisted. Finding

argument of no avail, the Master cried out in anguish, ‘O Mother, why dost

Thou bring such people here, who want to estrange me from Thee?’ At this

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 45

pathetic appeal the Marwari desisted. Referring to these incidents the

Master afterwards remarked, ‘At the offers of Mathur and Lakshmi

Narayan, I felt as if somebody were sawing my skull.’ Again, for the

complete effacement of a sense of superiority from his mind, he would

wash unclean places like an ordinary sweeper, viewing alike all objects of

the world as but modifications of matter.

VII

BHAIRAVI BRAHMANI AND

A VAISHNAVA SAINT

One morning in 1861 Sri Ramakrishna was plucking flowers in the garden

of Dakshineswar when he saw a country-boat coming towards the smaller

bathing ghat of the temple. A middle-aged, beautiful Bhairavi Sannyasini

with long dishevelled hair stepped out of the boat. Though nearly forty

years of age, she looked much younger.

Sri Ramakrishna calling Hriday asked him to bring her from the Chandni

(the roofed court which is the main entrance to the temple compound) to his

presence. As soon as the Bhairavi met Sri Ramakrishna, she burst into tears

of joy and surprise and said in a tender voice, ‘My son, you are here! I have

been searching for you so long, and now I have found you’.

‘How could you know about me, mother?’

asked Sri Ramakrishna. She replied, ‘Through the grace of the Divine

Mother I had come to know that I was to meet three of you. Two (Chandra

and Girija) I have already met in East Bengal, and today I have found you.’

She spoke with emotion, as

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 47

though she had found her long-lost treasure at last.

Sri Ramakrishna too was visibly moved.

After a while she told all about herself. She was born in a Brahmin family

in the District of Jessore (Bengal), and was well versed in Vaishnava and

Tantrika literature. She was a Vaishnava devotee of a high order. Her

intense spiritual practices had bestowed on her wonderful realizations,

which prompted her to find out a suitable aspirant to whom she could

deliver all her attainments for his spiritual illumination. Sri Ramakrishna,

like a boy, sat close by her and opened his heart to this Bhairavi,

Yogeshwari by name, and related to her every incident of his Sadhana. He

further said that people looked upon him as insane, because his actions

differed so widely from those of the common run of men. Full of motherly

tenderness, she consoled him again and again: ‘Who calls you mad, my

son? This is not insanity. Your state is what is called Mahabhava

(extraordinary state of religious ecstasy) in the Shastras. Sri Radha

experienced this state and so did Sri Gauranga. All these are recorded in the

texts of the Bhakti (devotion) schools. I shall show you from books that

whoever has sincerely yearned for God has experienced this state, and

every one doing so must pass through it.’ These words reassured Sri

Ramakrishna.

The relation of mother and son which sprang up between them from their

very first meeting

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

deepened as they became better acquainted. After some time the Bhairavi

Brahmani fixed her abode at Ariadaha, a couple of miles north of the

Dakshineswar temple. From there she used to come almost daily and

instruct her God-intoxicated spiritual child. Every day she saw him go into

a trance as they talked on spiritual matters, and she observed a strange

similarity between the life of Sri Chaitanya and that of Sri Ramakrishna.

Another incident happening at this time confirmed her belief that the Lord

was incarnated again in the person of Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna

had been suffering for a long time from a burning sensation all over his

body. Though experts and laymen all ascribed this malady to some internal

disorder, the Brahmani found quite a different cause for it. She diagnosed it

as the effect of his strong yearning for God. On scriptural authority, she

prescribed a curious remedy. The patient had only to wear a garland of

fragrant flowers and paint his body with sandal paste. Great was the

astonishment when under this treatment Sri Ramakrishna completely

recovered in three days.

The Brahmani was now prepared to meet any scholar to prove her

contention that Sri Ramakrishna was an Incarnation of God. Mathur, partly

to satisfy his own curiosity and settle his own doubts and partly to humour

Sri Ramakrishna, called a meeting of the distinguished scholars of

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 49

the time. Vaishnava Charan, who was one of the leaders of the Vaishnava

society and reputed for his Knowledge of various philosophies and

devotional scriptures, and Gauri Kanta Tarkabhushana of Indesh in the

District of Bankura, who was a far-famed scholar and a great Sadhaka

(spiritual aspirant) of the Tantrika school, also came to Dakshineswar on

invitation. The result of the meeting was that Vaishnava Charan subscribed

heartily to all the conclusions of the Brahmani. And Gauri also felt in his

heart of hearts that Sri Ramakrishna was no ordinary saint. He gravely

replied, ‘I am firmly convinced that you are that mine of infinite Spiritual

Power, only a small fraction of which appears in the world from time to

time in the form of Incarnations.’ Thus the two great scholars and Sadhakas

who came to test Sri Ramakrishna ended by surrendering themselves at his

feet.

It has already been stated that the Brahmani from the very first bore a

motherly affection towards Sri Ramakrishna. But she never forgot the

divine mandate she had received to deliver her message to him, and she did

her best to act as a spiritual guide to Sri Ramakrishna. He, on his part,

undertook the course of Tantrika Sadhana under her guidance with the zeal

characteristic of him.

Referring to this period the Master would afterwards say: ‘The Brahmani

would go during

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

the day to places far from Dakshineswar and collect the various rare things

mentioned in the Tantrika scriptures. At nightfall she would ask me to come

to one of the meditation seats. I would go, and after performing the worship

of the Mother Kali I would begin to meditate according to her directions.

As soon as I would begin to tell my beads, I would be always overwhelmed

with divine fervour and fall into a deep trance. I cannot relate all the

varieties of wonderful visions I used to have.

They followed one another in quick succession, and the effects of those

practices I could feel most tangibly. The Brahmani put me through all the

exercises mentioned in the sixty-four principal Tantra books. Most of these

were extremely difficult Sadhanas—some of them so dangerous that they

often cause the devotee to lose his footing and sink into moral turpitude.

But the infinite grace of the Mother carried me through them unscathed.’

The many fiery ordeals through which he passed during this period enabled

him to become firmly established on the highest level of spirituality. The

Brahmani declared that her divine disciple had attained perfection in this

system of Yoga and had passed through its extreme tests successfully—a

thing which very few Sadhakas indeed could do. The most remarkable

feature about Sri Ramakrishna’s Tantrika Sadhana was that he attained

perfection in every course in an

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 51

incredibly short time—three days being sufficient.

Not only was Sri Ramakrishna’s perfection in this Sadhana unique and

unprecedented, but to him also was due the restoration of the purity of the

ancient Tantrika practices at the present age.

The Kali temple of Dakshineswar was a favourite resort of devotees and

Sadhus because of its seclusion and holy association, as well as of Rani

Rasmani’s liberality. They would stop there for a few days on their way to

Gangasagar or to Puri.

That was before the opening of the railways. At special times, Sadhus of a

particular class would congregate in large numbers. The meeting of these

different classes of monks and devotees with Sri Ramakrishna was of great

significance. The ideas of practical spirituality which originated with the

prophet of Dakshineswar were disseminated through these Sadhus to their

own disciples and followers. Even those fortunate persons whom he

accepted as teachers were also greatly benefited by their close association

with the Master. Among the many devotees and scholars who came in

contact with him at different periods, some took initiation from him and

others were influenced by him in various ways, as we have seen in the cases

of Vaishnava Charan and Gauri Kanta. About this time other great

distinguished savants also, such as Pandit Narayana Shastri of Rajputana,

Pandit Padmalochan Tarkalankara, the court Pandit of the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Maharaja of Burdwan, and the like, were greatly attracted towards Sri

Ramakrishna, and received spiritual inspiration from the Master.

It was probably about the year 1864 that one great Vaishnava devotee,

Jatadhari by name, came to Dakshineswar. He was a wandering monk and a

devotee of Sri Rama. The Master often said that Jatadhari’s love and

yearning for God were peerless.

Ramlala, or the ‘Child Rama’ was his favourite Deity. By long meditation

and worship Jatadhari had made great spiritual progress, and had been

blessed with a wonderful vision of Rama—the effulgent form of young

Rama then became a living presence to him. ‘The Babaji (Father),’ said the

Master later to a group of disciples, ‘was the lifelong devotee of Ramlala,

whose image he carried wherever he went. He actually found that Ramlala

took 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. I could see the

actions of Ramlala; so I used to spend the whole day with the Babaji to

watch him. Days passed in this way, and Ramlala became more and more

intimate with me and followed me to my room. I saw Ramlala as vividly as

I see you all—now dancing gracefully before me, now springing on my

back, or insisting on being taken up in my arms. Sometimes I would hold

him on my lap. He would not remain there, but would run to the fields in

the sun, pluck

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 53

flowers from thorny bushes, or jump into the Ganga.

When chastised, he would fix his beautiful eyes on me and smile, or like a

naughty boy he would go on with his pranks, or pout or make faces at me.

Sometimes I lost patience and slapped him. With tearful eyes and trembling

lips he wold look at me.

Oh, what pain I would feel then for having punished him! I would take him

in my lap and console him. All these things actually happened.

‘One day Jatadhari came to me weeping and said, “Ramlala out of his

infinite grace has fulfilled my desire. He has revealed himself to me in the

form I prefer, but he has told me that he will not go leaving you behind. I

shall gladly leave him with you and go my way. It gladdens my heart to

think that he is happy in your company.” With these words Jatadhari left

Ramlala with me and bade adieu to Dakshineswar. Ever since Ramlala has

been here.’

VIII

ONE WITH THE ABSOLUTE

Sri Ramakrishna had by now practised all the different phases of devotion

laid down in the scriptures of Bhakti, namely, Shanta, Dasya, Sakhya,

Vatsalya, and Madhura,1 and realized the same goal through each one of

them. His spiritual experience, hitherto gathered, had many forms.

Sometimes he willed himself into them, at other times the strong current of

his spiritual nature swept him into them inspite of himself. He would

commune with invisible beings—forms of the Divinity or Divine

Incarnations of the past. Such visions, however, belong to the domain of

personality, which 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 in Eternity, causation becomes a 1

Shanta is the placid attitude of mind towards Divinity, Dasya is the relation

of servant to master, Sakhya is the attitude of friendship, Vatsalya is the

relation of parent and child, and Madhura, the highest, is the relation

between two lovers.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 55

dream of the past. He only knows that state who has experienced it. It is all

stillness indefinable. 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 the Nirvikalpa Samadhi—the

highest flight of Advaita philosophy. This is the crowning glory of man’s

spiritual exercises—the last word in his evolution. Then there is no more

birth, no more death, nor any further identification with the changes of the

body. He leaves behind all the modifications of relativity like a cast-off

garment.

He realizes his identity with the Eternal Brahman, the One without a

second. There is no doubt Sri Ramakrishna was the fittest person to realize

this state. The field was ready ploughed, and waited only for the sowing of

the seed.

At this time there came to the garden of Dakshineswar a wonderful monk,

Totapuri by name. He was a Punjabi by birth and had renounced the world

while quite young. He had been initiated by a Yogi who was the head of a

monastery of the Naga sect at Ludhiana in the Punjab. It is said that he

practised Sadhana in a secluded forest on the banks of the sacred Narmada

and attained to the Nirvikalpa Samadhi after rigid discipline extending over

forty years. After the passing away of his Guru, Totapuri took his place as

the head of the monastery. A liberated soul,

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indifferent to the joys and sorrows of the world, he intended to spend the

remaining years of his life in making pilgrimages to holy places. Like a lion

he roamed at will over the country. He had been to Puri and Gangasagar and

on the return journey along the course of the Ganga, halted at

Dakshineswar, where he met with Sri Ramakrishna.

The bright face of the Master at once arrested the attention of Totapuri, who

came to understand that Sri Ramakrishna was a highly advanced seeker

after truth. Greatly impressed by him Totapuri asked,

‘Would you like to learn Vedanta?’

‘I do not know. It all depends on my Mother. I can agree to your proposal

only if She approves of it,’ was the quiet answer.

‘All right,’ said the monk, ‘go and ask your mother. I shall not be here

long.’

Sri Ramakrishna went into the Kali temple and spoke of the matter to the

Mother and in a state of trance heard Her command: ‘Yes, my boy, go and

learn of him. It is for this purpose that he has come here.’ In a state of

semiconsciousness and with a beaming countenance, Sri Ramakrishna

returned and said to Totapuri that he had his Mother’s permission. Totapuri

could not help smiling at his apparent superstition in addressing the image

in the temple as Mother, for, as a Vedantist, he looked upon Shakti—the

kinetic state of Brahman, which Sri Ramakrishna worshipped as Mother—

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 57

nothing but an illusion. However, he said nothing to Sri Ramakrishna on

this point, thinking that under his training the disciple would soon learn the

truth and spontaneously brush aside all superstitions.

Sri Ramakrishna had to be initiated into the sacred order of Sannyasa,

before he could commence studying the truths of Vedanta. He said that he

had no objection provided he could do so in private, for it would be too

much for his aged mother, who was living at that time in the sacred

precincts of the Dakshineswar Temple, to see her son shave his head and

take the monk’s vow. To this Totapuri agreed. When the auspicious day

arrived, Totapuri asked his disciple to perform the preliminary ceremonies.

He went through all these exactly as he was told. The night was almost

spent.

The teacher and the disciple entered the meditation room. The Guru chanted

the holy Mantras, which the disciple repeated as he put oblations one after

another into the sacred fire, renouncing, as he did so, all desire for

enjoyments, here and hereafter.

Prostrating himself before his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna took his seat to

receive his instructions in Advaita (monistic) Vedanta. ‘Brahman,’ said

Totapuri, ‘is the only Reality, ever-free, beyond the limits of time, space,

and causation. When a seeker is merged in the beatitude of Samadhi, he

does not perceive time and space, nor name and form—the

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products of inscrutable Maya. Pierce through the maze of name and form

and rush out of it like a lion. Dive deep in the search for the Self and be

firmly established in It through Samadhi.’ Totapuri thus tried that day to

help Sri Ramakrishna to fix his mind firmly on the Absolute. We describe it

in Sri Ramakrishna’s own words: ‘After the initiation

“the naked one”1…asked me to withdraw the mind completely from all

objects and dive into the Atman (Self).…I had no difficulty in withdrawing

the mind from all other objects except one, the all too familiar form of the

Blissful Mother—radiant and of the essence of Pure Consciousness—which

appeared before me as a living Reality preventing me from passing beyond

the realm of name and form.…In despair I said to “the naked one”, “It is

hopeless. I cannot raise my mind to the unconditioned state and come face

to face with the Atman”. He grew excited and sharply said, “What!

you can’t do it! But you have to!” He cast his eyes around, and finding a

piece of glass he took it up and pressing the point between my eyebrows

said,

‘Concentrate the mind on this point.’ Then with a stern determination 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 1 Sri Ramakrishna used

to refer to Totapuri as Nyangta, i.e. the naked one.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 59

sword and severed it in to two. There remained no more obstruction to my

mind, which at once soared beyond the relative plane, and I lost myself in

Samadhi!’

Totapuri sat for a long time, silently watching his disciple. Finding him

perfectly motionless, he locked the door and went out of the room. Three

days passed, and still there was no call. In utter surprise Totapuri opened the

door and found Sri Ramakrishna sitting in the very same position in which

he had left him. With breathless wonder Totapuri stood before this august

spectacle. ‘Is it really true?’ he said to himself, ‘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?’ Impelled by doubt, he made a searching

examination. In joyous bewilderment he cried out, ‘Great God, it is nothing

short of a miracle!’ It was undoubtedly a case of Nirvikalpa Samadhi—the

culmination of the Advaita practice!

Totapuri immediately took steps to bring the mind of Sri Ramakrishna

down to the world of phenomena. Little by little he came to the

consciousness of the outside universe. He opened his eyes and saw his Guru

looking at him with tenderness and admiration. The Guru answered the

worthy disciple’s prostration by locking him in a warm embrace.

Totapuri usually did not stay at any one place

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for more than three days. But he wished to establish his wonderful new

disciple firmly on the lofty pinnacle of Advaita. So he remained eleven

months in the garden of Dakshineswar. During this time Totapuri also

underwent some mental transformation. We have seen how he looked upon

Sri Ramakrishna’s praying to the Divine Mother as a superstition. But

circumstances compelled Totapuri to believe in the existence of the Divine

Mother. Before he left Dakshineswar he realized that Brahman and Shakti

are one and the same thing—the two aspects of the same entity.

After Totapuri had left Dakshineswar, the Master was determined to remain

in a state of absolute identity with Brahman, far above all subjective and

objective experiences. He remained in that state for six months. Referring to

this period of his life the Master used to say: ‘For six months at a stretch I

remained in that state whence ordinary men can never return—the body

falling off after three weeks like a sere leaf. I was not conscious of day and

night. Flies would enter my mouth and nostrils just as they do in a dead

body, but I did not feel them. The hair became matted with accretions of

dust. There was no chance for the body to survive, it would certainly have

perished but for the kind ministrations of a monk who was present at

Dakshineswar at the time.…He would bring food regularly to me…and as

soon as he found me to be

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 61

a little conscious, he would press some food into my mouth, only a bit of

which reached my stom-ach. Six months passed in this way. At last I

received the Mother’s command, “Remain on the threshold of relative

consciousness for the sake of humanity.”

Then I was laid up with a terrible attack of dysentery.…It went on for six

months. Thus only did the mind gradually come down to a lower level and

to the consciousness of the body.…’

TRAVELLING INTO OTHER FAITHS

As a result of the Advaita realization the mind of Sri Ramakrishna had

acquired a wonderful breadth, accepting all forms of religion as so many

ways of reaching perfection. Towards the end of 1866, soon after his

recovery from dysentery, Sri Ramakrishna was attracted by the faith and

devotion of a Sufi mystic, Govinda Ray by name, who had embraced Islam

and lived at Dakshineswar at this time. Gradually it came to the mind of Sri

Ramakrishna that, since Islam was also a means to the realization of God,

he would see how the Lord blessed the devotees who worshipped that way.

He therefore got the necessary initiation from Govinda. To the practice of

this new religion the Master applied himself with his characteristic

thoroughness. Thus did he describe his mentality at this period: ‘Then I

used to repeat the name of Allah, wear my cloth in the fash-ion of the

Mohammedans and recite the Namaz regularly. All Hindu ideas being

wholly banished from the mind, not only did I not salute the Hindu gods,

but I had no inclination even to visit them.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 63

After three days I realized the goal of that form of devotion.’ First of all he

saw a radiant Person with a long beard and of grave appearance, and then

his mind, passing through the realization of the Brahman with attributes,

was finally absorbed in the Brahman without attributes. The very fact that

he practised Islam after attaining perfection in the Advaita makes it clear

that only through this—the underlying basis of all faiths—can the Hindus

and Mohammedans be united with each other.

Seven years later he had a similar realization of Christianity. In 1874 Sri

Ramakrishna came into intimate contact with Shambhu Nath Mallick of

Calcutta, who had a garden close to the Dakshineswar Kali temple. Sri

Ramakrishna used to spend a good deal of time in this garden-house of

Shambhu Mallick, who came to regard the Master with sincere love and

esteem, and after Mathur’s death gladly supplied all his wants. Though not

a Christian, he used to read the Bible to Sri Ramakrishna, who thus came to

know about Christ and Christianity. He felt a strong desire to realize the

Divine Mother by this new method, and it was fulfilled in a strange way.

One day Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in the parlour of a neighbouring house

belonging to Jadulal Mallick, a devotee of the Master. On the walls were

many beautiful portraits, one of them being of Christ. Sri Ramakrishna was

looking

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attentively at the picture of the Madonna with the Divine Child and

reflecting on the wonderful life of Christ, when he felt as though the picture

had become animated, and that rays of light were emanating from the

figures of Mary and Christ and entering into him, altogether changing his

mental outlook. When he realized that his Hindu ideas were being pushed

into a corner by this onrush of new ones, he tried his best to stop them and

eagerly prayed to the Divine Mother, ‘What is it that Thou art doing to me,

Mother?’ But in vain. His love and regard for the Hindu gods were swept

away by this tidal wave, and in their stead a deep regard for Christ and the

Christian church filled his heart and opened to his eyes the vision of

Christian devotees burning incense and candles before the figure of Jesus in

the churches and offering unto him the eager outpourings of their hearts.

For three days those ideas held sway in his mind. On the fourth day, as he

was walking in the Panchavati, he saw an extraordinary-looking person of

serene aspect approaching him with his gaze intently fixed on him. He

knew him at once to be a man of foreign extraction. Sri Ramakrishna was

charmed and wondered who he might be. Presently the figure drew near,

and from the inmost recesses of Sri Ramakrishna’s heart there went up the

note: ‘This is Christ who poured out his heart’s blood for the redemption of

mankind and suffered agonies for

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 65

its sake. It is none else but that Master Yogi Jesus, the embodiment of

Love.’ Then the Son of Man embraced Sri Ramakrishna and became

merged in him. At this the Master went into Samadhi and lost all outward

consciousness. Thus was Sri Ramakrishna convinced that Jesus Christ was

an Incarnation of the Lord.

It will be worthwhile to note here Sri Ramakrishna’s opinion of Buddha and

other great founders of religion. About Buddha he shared the general notion

of the Hindus that he was an Incarnation of God. He used to offer him his

sincere devotion and worship. Once he remarked,

‘There is not the least doubt about Lord Buddha’s being an Incarnation.

There is no difference between his doctrines and those of the Vedic Jnana-

kanda.’ We have every reason to believe that he spoke thus because of his

supernatural insight.

About the Tirthankaras who founded the Jain religion, and the ten Sikh

Gurus, Sri Ramakrishna heard a good deal in his later life from the lips of

representatives of those communities and came to entertain a great regard

for them. In his room at Dakshineswar there were a small statue of

Tirthankara Mahavira and a portrait of Christ, before which incense was

burnt morning and evening. Of the Sikh Gurus, he used to say that they

were all incarnations of the saintly king Janaka.

Thus, as a result of his realization through all

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forms of discipline, he was firmly convinced that all religions were true—

that every doctrinal system represented a path to God. The three great

system of thought known as Dualism, Qualified Monism and Monism—

Dvaita, Vishishtadvaita and Advaita—he perceived to be but different

stages in man’s progress towards the goal. He held that they were not

contradictory, but complementary, being suited to different mental outlooks.

Thus he used to say to his disciples:

‘I have practised all religions—Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and I have

also followed the paths of the different Hindu sects. I have found that it is

the same God towards whom all are directing their steps, though along

different paths.

‘The tank has several ghats. At one Hindus draw water in pitchers and call

it jal; at another Mohammedans draw water in leathern bottles and call it

pani; at a third Christians, and call it water.

Can we imagine that the water is not jal, but only pani or water? How

absurd! The substance is One under different names, and everyone is

seeking the same Substance.

‘Every religion of the world is one such ghat.

Go direct with a sincere and earnest heart by any of these ghats, and you

will reach the water of Eternal Bliss. But say not that your religion is better

than that of another.

‘Different creeds are but different paths to reach

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 67

the one God. Diverse are the ways that lead to the temple of Mother Kali at

Kalighat in Calcutta.

Similarly, various are the paths that take men to the house of the Lord.

Every religion is nothing but one of such paths.

‘The mind and intellect can comprehend and put in terms of language the

range of thought up to the Vishishtadvaita and no further. In its perfection,

the Absolute and Manifestation are seen to be equally real. The Lord’s

name, His abode, and He himself are found to be composed of the 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 God-realization. He looked upon himself as an Incarnation of

God, though he disliked any reference to it.

FINDING DIVINITY IN THE WIFE

As already stated, Sri Ramakrishna became very weak after the attack of

dysentery. About the month of May in the year 1867 he started for

Kamarpukur accompanied by Hriday and Bhairavi Brahmani for a change.

The Master stayed at Kamarpukur for six or seven months. It was a great

relaxation for him to enter into the joys and sorrows of the simple village

folk after the stormy days of Sadhana at Dakshineswar. Sarada Devi, his

girl wife, was then staying with her father at Jayrambati.

Shortly after Sri Ramakrishna’s arrival, she was sent for. So Sarada Devi, or

the Holy Mother as she became known later to the devotees of Sri

Ramakrishna, arrived at Kamarpukur.

Here was a chance for Sri Ramakrishna to test his realizations. By allowing

the rightful privileges of her position to his wife, who was then a girl of

fourteen, he subjected himself to an ordeal from which he emerged brighter

than ever. He took special care that she had an all-round training in the

discharge of her household duties. The Holy

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Mother was charmed with the ideal of pure and selfless love that was shown

to her by her saintly husband; she was content to worship him as her

Ishtadeva and by following in his footsteps to develop her own character.

Sri Ramakrishna trained her not only in spiritual things but also in mundane

matters that would make her an ideal mistress of the household. But the

Bhairavi Brahmani did not take kindly to the idea of Sri Ramakrishna’s

doing his duty towards his wife. Perhaps she feared that this would

endanger his celibate life. But the Master would not listen to her

remonstrances. He remained unruffled and revered her as much as ever. The

Brahmani was seized with a sense of false pride; and despite her

attainments, she could not control herself. But subsequently she came to

realize her mistakes. She one day approached Sri Ramakrishna with sandal

paste and garlands of flowers which she had taken great pains to prepare,

and with these adorned him as an Incarnation of Sri Chaitanya. She

implored his forgiveness and bade farewell to Kamarpukur. Sri

Ramakrishna regained his former health as a result of his prolonged stay in

the peaceful environs of his native village, and afterwards returned with

Hriday to Dakshineswar.

The holy association of Saradamani with her God-intoxicated husband at

Kamarpukur filled her pure heart with unspeakable delight. Referring to this

joy, she said later on, ‘I used to feel always as if

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 71

a pitcher full of bliss was placed in my heart—the joy was ineffable.’ Four

years passed after that, and she was now a young woman of eighteen. Wild

rumours reached her to the effect that her saintly husband had gone mad.

After much thought she decided to go to Dakshineswar to see for herself,

and reached the place in March 1872, in the company of her father. Sri

Ramakrishna bestowed on her as much love and care as he had done

previously. He sent her to live in the concert-room with his mother, who had

already come there to spend the last days of her life by the side of the

Ganga. Convinced after a few days’ stay at Dakshineswar that Sri

Ramakrishna was unchanged in his attitude towards her, Sarada Devi

decided to remain there and give herself over to the service of Sri

Ramakrishna and his mother.

Sri Ramakrishna now resumed his old task of teaching his wife, testing at

the same time his own realization and discharging his duties as a husband.

His teaching covered a wide range of subjects from housekeeping to the

knowledge of Brahman. Not content with merely giving instructions, he

took particular care to see that she carried them out, lovingly correcting any

mistake.

A couple of months after the Holy Mother’s arrival, there arose a curious

desire in Ramakrishna’s mind, which he lost no time in fulfilling. It was the

new moon of June 5, 1872, an auspicious night for

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the worship of Kali, and Sri Ramakrishna made special arrangements for it

in his own room, instructing the Holy Mother to be present. She went there

at 9 p.m. Sri Ramakrishna took the seat of the priest. After the preliminaries

were over, he beckoned the Holy Mother to the seat which was reserved for

the Goddess. Sarada Devi was in a semiconscious state. Sri Ramakrishna

went through the regular form of worship in which the Holy Mother took

the place of the Deity. During the ceremony she passed into Samadhi. The

Master too, when he had finished the Mantras, went into the super-

conscious state. Priest and Goddess were joined in a transcendental union in

the Self. At dead of night the Master partially recovered consciousness;

then with the appropriate Mantra he surrendered himself and the fruits of

his lifelong Sadhana, together with his rosary, at the feet of the Holy Mother

and saluted her. With this sacred ceremony, called in the Tantras the

Shodashi- Puja, or the worship of the Divine Mother Tripurasundari, was

finished the long series of Sri Ramakrishna’s spiritual practices.

One day Sarada Devi, as she was stroking the Master’s feet asked him,

‘What do you think of me?’

Quick came the answer, ‘The Mother who is worshipped in the temple is

the mother who has given birth to this body and is now living in the

concert-room, and she again is stroking my feet at

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 73

this moment. Verily I always look upon you as the visible representation of

the Blissful Mother.’

Months passed in this way, but not once did the minds of the divine couple

come down to the sense-plane. This was possible, because both husband

and wife had their minds attuned to the Infinite. In later days Sri

Ramakrishna compli-mented Sarada Devi in unequivocal terms. He used to

say: ‘After marriage I anxiously prayed to the Divine Mother to root out all

sense of physical enjoyment from her mind. That my prayer had been

granted I knew from my contact with her during this period.’

PILGRIMAGE

About four years before the incidents narrated towards the close of the last

chapter—in 1868—

Mathur and his wife arranged for a pilgrimage to Northern India and

wanted Sri Ramakrishna to accompany them. At their earnest request the

Master consented to be one of the party. They started on 27

January, and halted for a few days at Deoghar to visit the shrine of

Vaidyanath. Here an interesting thing happened. One day while passing

through a neighbouring village Sri Ramakrishna was greatly distressed to

see the wretched condition of its people. Moved with sympathy for them, he

said to Mathur, ‘You are the steward of the Mother. Feed these poor people

and give every one a piece of cloth.’ Mathur at first hesitated saying, ‘This

pilgrimage will cost a lot of money, and these people are very numerous.

We may be short of funds on the journey if we try to feed and clothe them.

So what do you say to this, father?’ But Sri Ramakrishna

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 75

was inexorable. He shed tears at the sight of such abject misery and said in

anguish: ‘Fie upon you! I am not going to Varanasi. I prefer to remain with

these helpless people.’ Like a petulant child he left Mathur’s company and

sat with the poor villagers.

At the sight of his compassion, Mathur was much moved; and he ordered

bales of cloth from Calcutta to distribute among them, and fed them as well.

Sri Ramakrishna then cheerfully started for Varanasi.

As he approached Varanasi by boat across the Ganga, the City of Shiva

appeared to him to be made of gold—‘a condensed mass of spirituality.’ It

seemed as if the precious thoughts of countless monks and devotees had

accumulated there, making the place an abode of the gods. Sri Ramakrishna

used to visit the shrine of Vishwa-natha, the presiding Deity of the place,

almost daily.

He would fall into a trance even on the way, as well as in the presence of

the Deity. He also went to visit the noted monks of Varanasi. One day he

paid a visit to the famous Trailanga Swami, who was then under a vow of

silence. The Swami beckoned him to take seat and held out his snuff-box to

him as a mark of welcome. Sri Ramakrishna asked him some questions,

which the Swami replied by gestures. Trailanga Swami was then

constructing a bathing ghat. At the instance of Sri Ramakrishna, one of his

attendants dug a few spadefuls of earth for the work, which pleased the

Swami greatly. The

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Master invited him one day to the home of Mathur and entertained him with

great respect.

After about a week’s stay at Varanasi the party moved on to Allahabad,

where all bathed in the sacred confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna.

After three days the party returned to Varanasi. At the end of a fortnight the

Master and his party went to Vrindaban. During his stay there Sri

Ramakrishna was always in high spirits. This sacred place, rich in the

countless sweet memories of Sri Krishna, constantly filled his heart with

unspeakable emotion. Even the slightest suggestion was enough to plunge

him into an ecstasy of delight. It was with great difficulty that he could

manage to keep his feelings under control.

Sometimes they would break all barriers and throw him into deep and

prolonged trances. At Vrindaban he visited Ganga Mata, a Vaishnava

woman devotee, noted for her great spiritual realizations. About sixty years

old, she had spent the greater part of her life at this holy place. At the very

first sight she understood the greatness of Sri Ramakrishna and considered

herself blessed to have met him. Sri Ramakrishna also was charmed with

her piety and devotion. He stayed at Vrindaban for about a fortnight. He

visited Mathura also. As in Vrindaban so also in Mathura, Sri Ramakrishna

was in an ineffable spiritual mood—his mind constantly soaring high—

especially at the sight of the spots

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 77

associated with the memory of Sri Krishna.

The Master returned with the party to Varanasi, where they stayed till May.

On his return journey Mathur had a mind to visit Gaya. But as Sri

Ramakrishna declined to go there, he had to give up the project. The Master

thought that if he once visited that sacred place, his mind would leave the

physical plane for ever. He knew of his father’s vision at Gaya before his

birth, and was convinced that his mind would become permanently

absorbed in God there. He considered himself an instrument in the hand of

the Mother, and bowed to Her decree that his body should remain in the

world to carry out Her divine purpose. Accordingly the party returned to

Calcutta direct.

It was now sixteen years since Mathur had first met Sri Ramakrishna. A

wonderful change had been wrought in his mind during this period. In the

month of July, 1871, Mathur was suddenly taken ill with typhoid fever.

From the beginning Sri Ramakrishna knew that this was to be the end for

Mathur. The fateful day arrived. Mathur was carried to Kalighat. That day

the Master fell into a deep trance, which lasted two or three hours. After 5

p.m. Sri Ramakrishna regained outward consciousness and calling Hriday

to him said that Mathur’s soul had gone to the Divine Mother. Late at night

the news reached Dakshineswar that Mathur had died exactly at five

o’clock. With the

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death of Mathur there passed away a figure closely associated with Sri

Ramakrishna during the most eventful epoch of his life.

XII

CONTACT WITH SOME NOTABLES

Sri Ramakrishna would find delight in meeting the leaders of thought and

other promi-nent men of his time and in studying the spiritual condition of

their life. In 1875 he saw Keshab Chandra Sen, who was the greatest figure

of the Brahmo movement of the time. Hearing of his piety, Sri Ramakrishna

wished to meet him. He had seen him meditating long ago at the Adi

Brahmo Samaj and had remarked that of all the boys there he was the only

one whose meditation was successful.

One afternoon Sri Ramakrishna accompanied by Hriday went to see

Keshab, who was then staying with some of his followers in a place not

very far from Dakshineswar. Keshab and the other Brahmos at first found

nothing remarkable about him. Finally Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘I hear that

you have seen God, so I have come to hear about it.’ The ensuing

conversation held Keshab and his followers under its spell. Sri Ramakrishna

then sang a song of Kali the Mother with his usual fervour, in the course of

which he fell into Samadhi. Hriday

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brought his uncle back to ordinary consciousness by chanting the sacred

word Om in his ears. Sri Ramakrishna’s face was beaming with a divine

radiance. A torrent of inspiring words flowed, which went straight to the

hearts of the listeners.

He spoke of the innumerable manifestations of one and the same infinite

God, illustrating it by the following parables:

‘Some blind men happened to come across an elephant. Someone told them

what it was and asked them to describe it as it seemed to them. The one

who touched the leg said, “The elephant is like a column.” The second one

said, “The elephant is like a winnowing fan”—he had felt one of its ears.

Similarly, those who had touched its trunk or belly gave different opinions.

So with God, everyone conceives Him according to his experience.

‘A man who had seen a chameleon under a tree returned and said, “I have

seen a beautiful red chameleon under the tree.” Another said, “I was there

before you. The chameleon is not red, but green. I have seen it with my own

eyes.” A third said, “I too know it well. I saw it before either of you, and it

was neither red nor green, but—and I saw it with my own eyes—it was

blue.” Others declared it was yellow, or grey, and so on. Soon they began to

quarrel among themselves as to who was correct. A man passing by asked

what the trouble was. When he was told the cause of quarrel,

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 81

he said, “I live under that very tree, and I know the chameleon well. All of

you are right, every one.

The chameleon is sometimes green, sometimes blue, it is all colours by

turn; and sometimes it is absolutely colourless.”’

He ridiculed the attempt of the human mind to fathom the nature of God by

comparing it to an ant that desired to carry a whole sugar hill in its mouth.

The inspiring words of the Master so impressed Keshab that he felt like a

child before this man of realization and listened to him with the utmost

reverence. Henceforward he with some of his devotees began to visit the

Master frequently, and long hours were spent in spiritual discussion.

Sri Ramakrishna also sometimes visited Keshab in Calcutta. Nagendra Nath

Gupta, an eye-witness and formerly editor of the Tribune, gives an

interesting account of one of such meetings of the two remarkable

personages. ‘By Keshab’s express desire,’ he writes, ‘I accompanied him on

one occasion when he went to see the Paramahamsa at Dakshineswar. The

meeting did not take place in the precincts of the temple. Keshab with a

small party including myself went by river in a small steam-yacht belonging

to Maharaja Nripendra Narayan Bhup of Cooch Behar, Keshab’s son-in-

low. At Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, accompanied by his

nephew, Hriday, boarded the launch, which resumed its way up-stream.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Ramakrishna and Keshab sat on the deck on the bare boards, cross-legged

and facing each other.

They sat close to each other, and as Ramakrishna grew animated and

earnest, he drew still closer to Keshab until his knees and thighs rested on

Keshab’s lap. I sat next to them, almost touching Keshab. The

Paramahamsa stayed in the boat for about eight hours, and except for the

few minutes during which he remained in Samadhi he never ceased

speaking. From that day to this I have never heard another man speak as he

spoke. There was no discussion at all. During all those eight hours Keshab,

the brilliant orator and accomplished scholar, scarcely spoke a dozen

sentences. All that he did was to put a question at long intervals or to ask

for an explanation. The only speaker was Ramakrishna and his words

flowed in a steady stream even as the Ganga rippled and flowed underneath

us. We heard nothing but that gentle, earnest voice; we saw nothing but that

ascetic, lean figure before us, with the half-closed eyes and the hands folded

on the lap. The moving lips uttered the simplest words, but what could soar

higher or plumb deeper than those thoughts! Every thought was a

revelation, every parable, every imagery, every simile was a marvel. He

spoke of the human face and its various indications of character, he spoke

of his own experiences of many forms of devotion, he described the

perennial ecstasy of the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 83

communion of the Spirit, and when he spoke of the formless (Nirakara)

Brahman, he passed into Samadhi, a trance in which his face radiated with

beatific ecstasy.’

The other leading Brahmos of the time including Pratap Chandra

Majumdar, Pandit Vijay Krishna Goswami, Pandit Shivnath Shastri, and

Trailokya Nath Sanyal, profited a great deal by their intimate association

with Sri Ramakrishna. This contact opened as well a suitable avenue for Sri

Ramakrishna to study the mentality of the educated community of Bengal,

from which afterwards came the chief instruments for the propagation of his

ideas. It was in fact the Brahmos who first gave him an idea of the way the

wind was blowing. He saw that they were more influenced by the

philosophers of the West than by the seers and prophets of India.

Hence they found the greatest difficulty in accepting wholly the ancient

truths of the Hindu religion. But Sri Ramakrishna was not at all dismayed

by this state of things. Behind this too he saw the hand of God. So, with

undiminished love he told the Brahmos all about his realizations and gave

out the essence of his teachings, such as the necessity of renunciation, the

sincere pursuit of one’s own course of discipline, faith in God, the

performance of one’s duties in the world without thought of results, and

discrimination between right and wrong. From that time Sri Ramakrishna

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

had an intimate association also with other notables of the time such as

Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Michael

Madhusudan Dutt, Pandit Shashadhar Tarkachudamani, Kristodas Pal,

Rajendra Lal Mitra, Aswini Kumar Dutt, and the like. Through them the

message of the Master reached a wider circle of people, who now began to

flock to him in large numbers for spiritual comfort and guidance.

XIII

THE COMING OF THE DEVOTEES

Sri Ramakrishna was now burning with a tremendous desire to meet his

devotees—the favoured children of the Divine Mother—to whom he might

pass his realizations for the good of humanity and the world. About this he

would say later: ‘There was no limit to the yearning I had then.

During the day-time I managed somehow to control it. The secular talk of

the worldly-minded was galling to me, and I would look forward wistfully

to the day when my beloved companions would come. I hoped to find

solace in conversing with them and unburdening my mind by telling them

of my realizations. Every little incident would re-mind me of them, and

thoughts of them, wholly engrossed my mind. When during the evening

service the temple rang with the sound of bells and conch-shells, I would

climb to the roof of the building in the garden, and writhing in anguish of

heart, cry at the top of my voice, “Come, my boys! Oh!

where are you? I cannot bear to live without you!”

A mother never longs so intensely for the sight of her child, nor a friend for

his companion, nor a

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

lover for his sweetheart, as I did for them! Oh! It was indescribable. Shortly

after this yearning, the devotees began to come in.’

The first two persons who responded to the call of Sri Ramakrishna were

Ramachandra Dutta and Manomohan Mitra, who were cousins and lived in

Calcutta. The former was a medical practi-tioner and a lecturer in the

Calcutta Medical College.

He came across a copy of a newspaper conducted by Keshab Chandra Sen

wherein he read about Sri Ramakrishna. One afternoon in 1879

Ramchandra accompanied by Manomohan visited Dakshineswar and met

the Master. They were charmed at his kindness, for such cordiality and

sympathy at first sight they had never experienced before. Sri

Ramakrishna’s love seemed so new and so genuine to them, because it was

selfless. From this time on, their lives took a different turn. Not being

content with going to see the Master themselves, Manomohan and Ram

induced their relatives and friends also to go to Dakshineswar to be blessed

by coming in contact with the Master.

By this time other devotees were visiting Sri Ramakrishna, and every

Sunday his small room was crowded. These devotees became acquainted

with one another, and those who were practising religious exercises under

the guidance of the Master formed themselves into a sort of spiritual

brother-hood. Now and then Sri Ramakrishna would

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 87

accept invitations from Calcutta to visit devotees, and these meetings

gradually took the shape of little festivals.

Ramchandra had a friend named Surendra Nath Mitra who lived close to

him. He held an important position in an English firm. At first a Bohemian,

he became a changed man through the influence of Sri Ramakrishna’s love.

His purse was always open for the Master’s comfort. After the passing of

the Master he became the mainstay of the Baranagore monastery from its

very start.

Balaram Bose, another householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, was a rich

zamindar of Orissa.

From his first meeting with Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar in 1882, he

became exceedingly devoted to him and supplied all his personal

necessities up to the last. It was in his Calcutta house at Baghbazar that Sri

Ramakrishna very often met his devotees and spent the time in devotional

songs and inspiring spiritual discourses.

It was in March 1882, that Mahendra Nath Gupta, better known as Master

Mahashay, or ‘M.’, the immortal writer of the Kathamrita (in Bengali, since

translated as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, a book recording the

conversations of Sri Ramakrishna), first met the Master at Dakshineswar.

He was then the Headmaster of Vidyasagar ’s Metropolitan Institution

(Shyambazar Branch) and was all along an educationist. He ranked very

high

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

among the Master’s intimate followers. Through his personal touch

hundreds of eager aspirants, young and old, received great spiritual impetus,

while his Kathamrita, as a faithful record of the highest spiritual

experiences of man in the simplest language, has no equal in the whole

range of scriptural literature.

Another distinguished devotee of Sri Ramakrishna was Durga Charan Nag,

better known as Nag Mahashay, who came of poor parents in the village

named Deobhog in the district of Dacca.

From his boyhood his one absorbing thought was how to escape worldly

bonds. He was told that without realization of God there was no salvation.

He spent night after night in prayer and meditation, but with no success. At

last, while practising as a physician in Calcutta, he came under the holy

influence of Sri Ramakrishna and by his life of absolute non-attachment,

humility, self-effacement, and purity of character, subsequently rose to be

one of the foremost householder devotees of the Master.

The name of Girish Chandra Ghosh is a household word in Bengal as the

greatest dramatist in the Bengali language and the father of the Bengali

stage. He was a victim of the first impact of the materialism of the age on

Indian society and led a reckless life before he came in contact with Sri

Ramakrishna in 1884. From that time he was a

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 89

thoroughly changed man and had unbounded faith in Sri Ramakrishna. The

Master used to extol his intelligence very highly. His unique devotion and

self-surrender marked him out as one of the greatest of the householder

devotees of Sri Ramakrishna.

Purna Chandra Ghosh of North Calcutta was a devotee whom the Master

gave a very high place among his closest followers. He was only a boy of

thirteen when he first met Sri Ramakrishna, who remarked on seeing him

that Purna completed the list of his inner circle of devotees.

Hundreds of such sincere devotees clustered round Sri Ramakrishna, whose

pregnant utterances and magnetic personality completely changed the

course of their lives and made them blessed.

XIV

MONASTIC DISCIPLES

The vision of Sri Ramakrishna that a galaxy of pure and earnest souls

imbued with the lofty spirit of renunciation and service would receive his

message of universal love and harmony and carry it to humanity soon came

to be materialized. One by one these heroic souls who were subsequently

transformed into mighty spiritual figures by the magic touch of the Master

gathered round him.

This batch of disciples consisted mostly of ardent young men who

afterwards left their hearth and home and embraced monastic life.

First among these to come was Latu (Swami Adbhutananda) who belonged

to a poor family in the District of Chapra in Bihar. He had the privilege of

serving Sri Ramakrishna for nearly six years and attained great spiritual

heights even during the lifetime of the Master.

Rakhal Chandra Ghosh (Swami Brahma-nanda), son of a landlord of

Basirhat, Twenty-four Parganas, first met Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar

in 1881. The Master looked upon him as his

‘Spiritual Child’. Rakhal was one of the class

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described by the Master as Nityasiddha (eternally perfect). Subsequently he

became the first President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission and

developed this infant institution into a powerful organization.

Gopal Ghosh (Swami Advaitananda) was rather advanced in years, and Sri

Ramakrishna used to designate him as ‘aged Gopal’. He ultimately

renounced the world and joined the Baranagore monastery.

Narendra Nath Dutta (Swami Vivekananda) came of an enlightened

aristocratic family of Calcutta.

Even in his boyhood he developed an introspective habit of mind and

became adept in meditation. He met the Master first in 1881, and after his

graduation from the Calcutta University in 1881 he felt an indomitable urge

for spiritual realization. Under the careful guidance of the Master he

attained the highest spiritual illumination, and his heart at the same time

was filled to overflowing with love for humanity. After the passing away of

Sri Ramakrishna it was Swami Vivekananda who organized his brother

disciples into a spiritual fraternity and laid the foundation of the institutions

which have developed into the present Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna

Mission. Swami Vivekananda’s noble vindication of Hinduism in the West

as well as in India, his great spiritual attainments, his burning patriotism, his

lifelong service for the uplift of the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 93

downtrodden masses of India, and his highsouled efforts to bring about a

cultural and spiritual union between the East and the West—all these have

combined to secure for him a pre-eminent position amongst the world’s

noblest men.

Tarak Nath Ghoshal (Swami Shivananda) belonged to the illustrious

Ghoshal family of Barasat in the District of Twenty-four Parganas.

From his very boyhood Tarak used to practise meditation. In his very first

meeting with Sri Ramakrishna in 1880, he was deeply impressed and he

made Sri Ramakrishna the pole-star of his life. Afterwards, in 1922, he

became the second President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

Baburam Ghosh (Swami Premananda) first met Sri Ramakrishna in

Calcutta in 1882. The Master spoke very highly of his purity of character

and classed him as ‘eternally perfect’. His unostentatious life of

contemplation and service and his unbounded affection for all have

enthroned him in the hearts of innumerable devotees and admirers.

Another young devotee of extraordinary spirituality who came to Sri

Ramakrishna was Nitya Niranjan Ghosh (Swami Niranjanananda). He

afterwards dedicated himself entirely to the service of the Master.

Yogindra Nath Roy Chowdhury (Swami Yogananda), who came of an

aristocratic Brahmin family of Dakshineswar, first came into close

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contact with Sri Ramakrishna when he was a mere boy. Sri Ramakrishna

spoke of him as being one of the chosen few of the Divine Mother.

Sharat Chandra Chakravarti (Swami Saradananda) and Shashibhushan

Chakravarti (Swami Ramakrishnananda) were cousins, born of a pious

Brahmin family of Calcutta. They met Sri Ramakrishna in 1882 and

eventually took refuge at the feet of the Master. Swami Saradananda

became the first Secretary of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission; and in his

Bengali book, Sri Sri Ramakrishna-Lilaprasanga, he has left a monumental

exposition of his Master’s sublime life. Swami Ramakrishnananda’s

services during the last illness of Sri Ramakrishna were unparalleled. The

Ramakrishna Math and the Students’ Home at Mylapore, Madras, are a

living testimony to the devoted service of this great soul. Of Shashi and

Sharat Sri Ramakrishna used to say that both of them were followers of

Jesus Christ in a former incarnation.

Hari Nath Chatterjee (Swami Turiyananda) of Baghbazar was another great

disciple who was attracted by the magnetic personality of the Master.

His great ascetic habit and extraordinary fortitude easily marked him out as

a great Yogi. His letters and conversations, as recorded, are an unfailing

source of spiritual enlightenment.

Gangadhar Ghatak (Swami Akhandananda)

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 95

was a friend of Hari Nath, and he also first met Sri Ramakrishna on the

same occasion. He was the first amongst the monastic disciples of the

Master to start philanthropic work in India as early as 1894. He became

President of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in 1934 after the passing

away of Swami Shivananda.

Hari Prasanna Chatterjee (Swami Vijnana-nanda) of Belgharia was

introduced to Sri Ramakrishna in 1883 by his friends Sharat and Shashi

while he was a college student. After holding important government posts

as an engi-neer, he renounced the world and subsequently became President

of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission after the passing away of Swami

Akhandananda in 1937.

Kali Prasad Chandra (Swami Abhedananda) first came to see Sri

Ramakrishna about the end of the year 1883. He was a great scholar in

Vedanta, and on account of his constant spiritual practices he was known in

his early monastic days as ‘Kali Tapaswi’. He did much to spread the

message of Vedanta in America.

Subodh Chandra Ghosh (Swami Subodha-nanda) was a High School

student of seventeen when he first met the Master in 1885. On his second

visit, Subodh had, at the mystic touch of the Master, a deep spiritual

experience. He belonged to the family of Shankar Ghosh, the proprietor of

the

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

famous Kali Temple of Thanthania, Calcutta.

Sarada Prasanna Mitra (Swami Triguna-titananda) was quite a boy when he

met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time in 1885. He came of a landlord

family of Naora, Twenty-four Parganas.

Under the instructions of Swami Vivekananda he started the Udbodhan, the

Bengali organ of the Ramakrishna Order, and edited it till his departure for

San Francisco, U.S.A., in 1902, where he successfully preached Vedanta

and laid down his life in 1914.

These were some of the most earnest disciples who dedicated themselves to

the service of the Master and moulded their lives according to the lofty

ideal of renunciation which Sri Ramakrishna set before them.

Having thus gathered together his chosen few, Sri Ramakrishna made them

his closest companions and, with the tender affection of a mother, guided

them step by step to the supreme realization of God.

WOMEN DEVOTEES

We have already seen that Sri Ramakrishna’s realization lifted him above

all sex-consciousness and enabled him to approach men and women with

the innocence and simplicity of a child. He looked upon every woman as

the living embodiment of the Divine Mother. Women devotees who flocked

to him for spiritual guidance and help in God-realization felt not the least

scruple or uneasiness in his presence. He read their thoughts and understood

their feelings as easily as those of men. And as his mind was absolutely

pure, it was but natural that he evoked only the highest sentiments in them.

He advised them to renounce lust and greed for wealth, and to struggle for

God-realization. Lives of some of his distinguished women devotees

including Yogin-Ma, Golap-Ma, Aghormani Devi (better known as Gopal’s

mother), Gauri-Ma, and Lakshmimani Devi furnish illuminating instances

of how pure unalloyed devotion and spirit of absolute self-surrender can

bestow supreme realization on all sincere seekers irrespective of caste or

sex. The magnetic touch of

SRI RAMAKRISHNA

Sri Ramakrishna’s divine love transformed their lives into pure gold and

made them recipients of the transcendental bliss. Many among such women

devotees, even though belonging to highly aristocratic families, flung to the

winds all social conventions and sometimes walked the whole distance

from Calcutta to Dakshineswar in their eagerness to hear words of wisdom

from Sri Ramakrishna. The Master, with his usual love and readiness,

fulfilled the aspirations of these earnest souls and thus built up a brilliant

group of women devotees. Their lives became in time an unfailing source of

spiritual comfort to a large number of aspirants.

But no life was so angelic and impressive, so simple and yet sublime, as

that of the Master’s own consort, Sarada Devi, who enjoyed the unique

privilege of living intimately with him and receiving for years the requisite

spiritual training.

Her life of intense Sadhana, under the affectionate guidance of the Master,

culminating in supreme spiritual realization, is a luminous instance of how

conjugal relationship can be spiritualized. She was, in fact, an ideal wife as

well as a superb nun. Her life was one long stillness of prayer. With her

infinite patience and overflowing motherly love, the Holy Mother was a

never-failing source of solace to all troubled souls that sought refuge with

her. Her life was a marvellous synthesis of

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 99

knowledge and devotion, Yoga and work. No wonder that Sri Ramakrishna,

at the conclusion of his spiritual practices, worshipped her as the

personification of the Divine Mother.

XVI

LAST DAYS

The closing years of Sri Ramakrishna’s life, though full of pathos, were as

sublime and graceful as the mellowed beauty of a glorious sunset.

Dakshineswar, once a silent and solitary retreat, was now the resort of

hundreds of earnest souls who crowded his small room from morning till

night to receive spiritual guidance. Sri Ramakrishna, without the least

consideration for his personal comfort or convenience, always ministered to

the spiritual needs of these eager aspirants with his usual alacrity and zeal.

Sometimes his small room would remain packed with devotees for hours

together, and he could hardly get a moment’s respite for meals as also for

giving relaxation to his overtaxed physical frame. His heart beat with every

throb of all the hearts that ached, known and unknown, and he gave out his

whole being unto them in the fullness of love and compassion. He often

inspired the hearts of these sincere souls with his devotional songs and

illuminating gospel as also with the narration of his own spiritual struggles

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 101

and realizations. Sometimes his room would ring with the swelling cadence

of songs sung with unspeakable fervour by the assembled devotees. The

whole atmosphere remained surcharged with spirituality, and everyone that

came into intimate touch with the Master felt a maddening enthusiasm for

God-realization. There is a saying that when the flower blooms, bees come

uninvited to suck the honey therefrom. This was exactly the case with Sri

Ramakrishna. Attracted by the Master’s spiritual life, persons of all

denominations and stations of life began to flock to him.

His was indeed a life which furnished a happy solution to the manifold

intricate problems of human existence. The entire spiritual history of

humanity was compressed, as it were, into the brief span of fifty years that

the Master was destined to live on earth, and during this period there was

practically no religion he did not live and no Truth he did not realize. His

life thus became a mighty confluence of the diverse streams of human

thought, where the weary pilgrims could meet and slake their spiritual

thirst. No wonder that the universal message of such a unique personality

was hailed with enthusiasm by all irrespective of caste, creed, or colour.

But his feeble health began to break down under the stress of constant

ecstasies and frequent religious discourses to numerous devotees.

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Sometimes like a cross child he would complain to the Mother: ‘Why do

You bring here all these people who are like milk diluted with five times its

own quantity of water? My eyes are destroyed with blowing the fire to dry

up the water. My health is gone. It is beyond my strength. Do it Yourself if

You want it done. This (pointing to his body) is nothing but a burst drum,

and if You go on beating it day in and day out, how long do You think it

will last?’

But in spite of this tremendous physical exertion, he did not in the least

relax his effort to give spiritual comfort to the distressed souls, even if they

came to him at odd hours. He never turned anybody away.

His temporary sense of bodily weakness was swept away by the spirit of his

infinite compassion for ignorant and suffering humanity. ‘Let me be

condemned to be born over and over again even in the form of a dog,’ he

would burst out saying, ‘If by doing so I can be of help to a single soul. I

would give up twenty thousand such bodies to help one man. It is glorious

to help even one man.’ So deep was his solicitude for all that he sometimes

blamed himself for falling into trances, as they absorbed much of the time

that could otherwise have been utilized for the spiritual benefit of others.

During the sultry months of the year 1885 the Master suffered a great deal

from the terrible heat, which was alleviated by the taking of ice the

devotees brought to him daily. But this frequent

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 103

use of ice produced a pain in the throat which was at first so trifling as to

pass unnoticed. But in a month it became so aggravated that the disciples

grew alarmed and called in a specialist in diseases of the throat.

Notwithstanding the prescription of various remedies, his condition did not

show any sign of improvement. On days of the full and the new moon, the

pain became more acute; it was impossible for him to eat solid food. The

doctors diagnosed the disease as ‘Clergyman’s sore throat’.

The Master carried out the doctors’ injunctions faithfully, except on two

points, namely checking the divine ecstasies and giving rest to the vocal

organs. As soon as he spoke of God, he lost all consciousness of the body

and fell into Samadhi. Nor would he stop speaking to people who, afflicted

by the world, came to him for solace. No wonder his health broke down.

The disease proved more and more obstinate.

A house was soon engaged at Shyampukur in Calcutta, and in the beginning

of October 1885, the Master was removed to the new premises to provide

better facilities for medical care. Dr. Mahendra Lal Sarkar, the then veteran

homoeopath and the founder of the Association for the Cultivation of

Science, was entrusted with the treatment of Sri Ramakrishna. When Dr.

Sarkar learnt that the devotees who had brought the Master to Calcutta for

treatment were defraying all expenses, he

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offered his services free as a labour of love.

The devotees now keenly felt the necessity of securing able hands to

prepare the Master’s food and to nurse him by night as well as by day. It

could be done only through the combined efforts of the Holy Mother and

the young devotees. News was accordingly sent to the Holy Mother at

Dakshineswar. The Holy Mother, as was her wont, throwing aside all

considerations of personal comfort, volunteered to come at once to

Shyampukur and undertake the task. Thus when the question of preparing

the Master’s diet was settled, attention was given to the matter of night

duty. Narendra Nath took this charge upon himself and began to pass the

night at Shyampukur. Fired by his example, a few sturdy youths such as

Gopal Junior (a new recruit), Kali, and Shashi lent their aid. Narendra’s

sacrifice for the sake of the Master, his inspiring talks and association with

them made an indelible impression upon their minds; and banishing all

selfishness, they resolved to consecrate their lives to the noble ideal of

service unto the Guru and realization of God. It is interesting to note that

though only four or five were attracted to this service of love at its initial

stage at Shyampakur, the number of such workers was almost quadrupled

towards the last. The guardians of the boys, seeing them neglect their

studies and stay with the Master, grew alarmed and

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 105

had recourse to various means to bring them back to their homes. But the

boys, with the glorious object lesson of Narendra Nath before them, stood

firm as rocks. The selfless enthusiasm of the devotees centred on a common

object of adoration, immediately binding them together; and the

Ramakrishna Brotherhood, though it had its origin at Dakshineswar, owed

most of its growth to the holy associations of Shyampukur and the

Cossipore garden.

Dr. Mahendra Lal Sarkar took up in right earnest the task of treating the

Master. After the examination was over he would spend hours with Sri

Ramakrishna in various religious discourses.

Thus by degrees Dr. Sarkar became more and more attached to the Master.

As a result of this intimate relationship established between the Master and

Dr. Sarkar, the latter’s admiration for the former soon ripened into a kind of

worship.

While at Shyampukur Sri Ramakrishna one day had a vision of his subtle

body emerging from the gross sheath and moving about the room. It had a

number of sores on the back. He was puzzled by the sight, but it was made

clear to him that the touch of profane people had caused those sores on the

body. They themselves had been purified, but they had left the suffering

arising from their own sins with him. When he described this vision to his

devotees, Narendra and some others observed

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA

that the Master’s vision was in conformity with the doctrine of vicarious

atonement postulated in certain religions like Christianity and Vaishnavism.

More than two months passed, but there was no sign of improvement. On

the contrary the condition of the Master was gradually going from bad to

worse. When treatment proved ineffectual, Dr. Sarkar advised a change to

some garden-house outside the city. Accordingly the spacious garden-house

of Gopal Chandra Ghosh at Cossipore was hired. In the afternoon of the

11th of December 1885, Sri Ramakrishna was removed to the new

premises.

XVII

END OF THE DRAMA

At the Cossipore garden was played the last act of the Master’s life on the

physical plane. On the eve of his exit from the arena of the world, the

Master showed himself at his highest, and making Narendra Nath the fit

instrument for the propagation of his ideas, entrusted to him the charge of

his flock. The pathos and sublimity of this closing scene can only be felt,

not described.

Soon after coming, the boys divided among themselves the task of cooking,

marketing and other household duties. The Holy Mother had the charge of

preparing the food as well as of feeding the Master.

Narendra was the leader of the young disciples.

When they were not occupied in the service of the Master, he would bring

them together and engage them in meditation, study, discussion, or songs.

Thus busied they were always in a delightful atmosphere, and time passed

unnoticed. Though the number of these sacrificing youths did not exceed

twelve, yet every one of them, by the consecration of his life to the service

of the Guru, appeared a tower of strength.

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When through the united effort of the older and younger devotees the

treatment and nursing of the Master were going on smoothly, Narendra one

night called some of these young boys to his side and said: ‘The Master’s

disease is very serious.

Perhaps he intends to lay down his body. Strive your best for spiritual

upliftment through service unto him along with prayer and meditation while

yet there is time. After his passing there will be no end to your repentance.

We are wasting time in the foolish thought that we shall pray to God after

finishing this or that business at hand. We are fastening more chains of

desire on ourselves, and desires mean death. We must root them out at

once.’

It was a cold starry night, and perfect stillness reigned everywhere.

Narendra’s introspective mind caught the contagion of the hour and felt

disposed to meditate. He sat under a tree, and seeing a stack of dry grass

and twigs near by, said: ‘Set fire to that. At this hour the monks light their

meditation fire. Let us do the same and burn up our desires.’ The fire was

lighted. The young devotees put the faggots into the fire and made a

holocaust of their desires at the same time. The very thought filled their

hearts with unspeakable joy. They actually felt that their minds were being

purged and that they were coming closer to God.

At this time occurred an event of great importance; showing the Master’s

wonderful love

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 109

for his devotees and his extraordinary spiritual power. It was the 1st of

January 1886. Sri Ramakrishna felt much better and wished to take a walk

in the garden. lt was about three in the afternoon.

As it was a holiday, about thirty lay disciples were present, some in the hall

and others under the trees.

When Sri Ramakrishna came down, those in the hall saluted him and

followed him at a distance as he walked slowly towards the gate. Girish,

Ram, Atul, and some others also came and saluted the Master. Sri

Ramakrishna suddenly said to Girish,

‘Well, Girish, what have you found in me that you proclaim me before all as

an Incarnation?’ Girish, not at all taken aback by the question, knelt before

him with folded hands and said in a voice shaken with emotion, ‘What can

an insignificant creature like me say about One whose glory even sages like

Vyasa and Valmiki could not measure?’ Hearing these words, spoken with

the greatest intensity, Sri Ramakrishna was deeply moved and said: ‘What

more shall I say? I bless you all! Be illumined!’

Saying this he fell into a state of semi-consciousness. The devotees heard

these solemn words and became mad with joy. Overwhelmed with emotion

they moved forward to take the dust of his feet and saluted him. At this

manifestation of devotion, Sri Ramakrishna’s mercy overstepped its bounds

and he touched them all, one by one, with appropriate blessings. This

powerful touch

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revolutionized their minds, and the devotees, so blessed by the Master, had

wonderful spiritual experiences. They, upon coming down from that state of

spiritual exaltation, realized that the Master was showering his grace upon

all without distinction. Sri Ramakrishna, knowing his end to be very near,

was busy preparing his chief disciple, Narendra Nath, for the great task

which was later to be his. One day the Master expressly commis-sioned him

to look after the young devotees, saying,

‘I leave them in your care. See that they practise spiritual exercises and do

not return home.’ He was thus silently training them for the monastic life;

and one day he asked Narendra and other young men to beg their food in

the streets. They all went out with begging bowls in hand. The Master was

overjoyed to think that before long these young men, clad in the ochre robe

of the Sannyasin, would go out into the world, begging their food from door

to door, and confer upon humanity the highest blessings of religion. One

day Gopal Senior expressed his desire to the Master to distribute ochre

cloths and Rudraksha rosaries among Sannyasins.

Pointing to his young disciples, Sri Ramakrishna answered, ‘You won’t find

better monks than these anywhere. Give your clothes and things to them.’

Gopal placed a bundle of ochre clothes before the Master, who distributed

them among his young

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 111

disciples. One evening the Master made them go through a ceremony and

permitted them to receive food from the houses of all irrespective of caste.

Thus it was that the disciples were initiated into the monastic order by the

Master himself, and the foundation of the future Ramakrishna Order was

laid. We have seen Narendra Nath’s aspirations for the highest Truth and his

struggle to attain it. One evening, as he was meditating, it came to him quite

unexpectedly. At first he felt as if a light had been placed behind his head.

Then he passed beyond all relativity and was lost in the Absolute. He had

attained the Nirvikalpa Samadhi! When he gained a little consciousness of

the world, he felt only his head, but not his body. He cried out, ‘Ah, where

is my body?’ Hearing his voice Gopal Senior came into the room. Naren

repeated the query. ‘Here it is, Naren,’ answered Gopal. When that failed to

convince Naren, Gopal was terrified and hastened to inform the Master. The

latter only said, ‘Let him stay in that state for a while! He has teased me

long enough for it!’ After a long time Narendra came to the consciousness

of the physical world and found his brother disciples clustered about him.

An ineffable peace bathed his soul. When he came to the Master, the latter

said: ‘Now the Mother has shown you all. But this realization of yours shall

be locked up for the present, and the key will remain with

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me. When you will have finished doing Mother’s work, this treasure will

again be yours.’

In the meanwhile Sri Ramakrishna was sinking daily; his body was worn to

a skeleton, and his diet was reduced to a minimum. All this grieved the

devotees. They knew now that they were going to lose the great mainstay of

their lives.

When the pain was excruciating, the Master would only whisper with a

smile, ‘Let the body and its pain take care of each other, thou, my mind, be

always in bliss!’ One night he whispered to Mahendra, ‘I am bearing all this

cheerfully, because otherwise you would be weeping. If you all will say that

it is better that the body should go rather than suffer this torture, I am

willing.’ The devotees, however, begged him to ask the Divine Mother to

make his body last; but he gazed at them tenderly and said, ‘How can I ask

Her for anything when my will is entirely merged in Hers?’ He consoled

them by saying ‘He (the Lord) comes with His devotees as a man—as an

Incarnation. The devotees again return with Him. A band of minstrels

appear before a house. They sing and dance, and go away as suddenly as

they came, nobody knows them!’

In spite of failing strength the Master continued his spiritual work. One day

he initiated Narendra with the name of Rama, which he said, was his own

Ishta Mantra. It produced a miracu-lous effect. Narendra was filled with

bliss, and in

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 113

the intoxication of it went round and round the house uttering the name of

Rama. He was in such an exalted mood that none dared approach him.

After this had gone on for hours the other disciples grew alarmed and

reported it to Sri Ramakrishna, who simply said, ‘Let him be. He will

recover in due course.’ But it was four o’clock before Narendra regained

normal consciousness.

About eight or nine days before his passing, Sri Ramakrishna asked Yogin

to read to him from the Bengali almanac the dates from the twenty-fifth

Shravana (9th August) onwards. Yogin read until he came to the last day of

the month. The Master then made a sign that he did not want to hear any

more. Four or five days after this, the Master 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 his body.

Gradually he too lost outward consciousness. He did not remember how

long he sat there. When he came to normal consciousness, he found Sri

Ramakrishna in tears. The Master said to him, ‘Today I have given you all

and have become a Fakir !

Through this power you will do immense good to the world, and then only

shall you go back.’ In this way Sri Ramakrishna passed on his powers to

Narendra; henceforth the Master and the disciple became one soul.

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A couple of days later the idea entered Narendra’s mind of testing Sri

Ramakrishna’s statement that he was an Incarnation. He said to himself, ‘If

in the midst of this dreadful physical pain he can declare his Godhead, then

I shall believe him.’ Strange to say, the moment this thought came to him,

Sri Ramakrishna summoning all his energy said distinctly, ‘He who was

Rama and Krishna, is now Ramakrishna in this body—but not in your

Vedantic sense!’ Narendra was stricken with shame and remorse for having

doubted the Master even after so many revelations.

At last the eventful day arrived—a day of intense grief for the devotees. It

was Sunday, August 15, 1886, the last day of Shravana. The Master’s

suffering was at its highest. The devotees wept in grief. They stood by the

bed-side of the Master. In the evening he suddenly fell into Samadhi. The

body became stiff. There was something about this Samadhi which struck

Shashi as unusual, and he began to weep. After midnight Sri Ramakrishna

regained consciousness. The Master in a clear voice uttered thrice the name

of Kali and gently lay down.

Suddenly at two minutes past one, a thrill passed through the Master’s body,

making the hair stand on end. The eyes became fixed on the tip of the nose

and the face was lit up with a smile. The Master entered into Mahasamadhi.

Thus in the early hours of Monday, the 16th of August 1886, Sri

Ramakrishna

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 115

departed from the world, leaving behind a host of grief-stricken devotees

and admirers.

At five p.m. the sacred body was brought down and laid on a cot. It was

dressed in ochre cloth and decorated with sandal-paste and flowers.

An hour later, the body was carried to the burning ghat at Cossipore, to the

accompaniment of devotional music. Spectators shed tears as they saw the

solemn procession pass. The body was placed on the funeral pyre, and

within a couple of hours everything was finished.

A calm resignation came to the devotees as they prepared to leave the

cremation ground, for they all realized the Master’s eternal presence within.

He, their Lord, was the same in the disembodied state as in the physical life.

According to his own words, he had passed from one cham-ber to another,

that was all. They put the sacred relics of the Master’s body into an urn and

returned to the Cossipore garden, shouting ‘Victory to Bhagavan

Ramakrishna.’

XVIII

AFTER THE PASSING

Close contact for so long with such burning renunciation and godliness

made it impossible for the young disciples to return to the world. Though

they were without resources, Surendra Nath Mitra, a householder disciple

of the Master, came forward with the necessary pecuniary assistance and

en-couraged them to found a home where the broth-erhood would live

together and the householders would also find a temporary refuge from

their worldly cares. A half-ruined house was rented at Baranagore where

one by one almost all the young disciples of the Master gathered under the

leader-ship of Narendra Nath. Thus the Master’s dearly cherished ideal of

monasticism took a concrete shape after his passing.

The Holy Mother tried to overcome her sense of irreparable loss by

undertaking a vigorous course of Sadhana at Vrindaban, Calcutta, and in the

Master’s native village. One part of the preordained purpose of her union

with Sri Ramakrishna had been fulfilled, namely the setting up of an ideal

for the householders of today to follow, according to their respective

capacities. There still remained another part to be accomplished, namely the

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transmission of the Master’s spiritual power to thousands of devotees, and

specially to women. It was for this that her valuable life was spared to

humanity for many years.

During the latter part of December 1886, the members of the Baranagore

monastery went to Antpur, a village in the District of Hooghly, at the

invitation of the mother of Baburam, one of the monastic disciples of the

Master. Here Narendra gathered all the young disciples of the Master, and

in the fervour of spiritual enthusiasm which was evoked here, the bond of

fellowship among them was definitely sealed. The enthusiasm reached its

height, quite unconsciously, on Christmas Eve, when before a burning log

of wood Narendra and his brothers kept vigil, talking passionately of the

life of Christ and the glories of renunciation. This stirred up the dormant

spirit of renunciation in those who had lagged behind, and shortly after their

return, the Baranagore monastery had its full complement of monks, all

pledged to a life of the highest asceticism.

No chronicler can do full justice to the intense spiritual life these young

monks led at Baranagore.

The more they felt the absence of the Master on the physical plane, the

more intense was their desire to realize him as the expression of Eternal

Truth in the recesses of their hearts. No amount of privation or hardship,

indifference or contumely, was

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 119

allowed to stand in their way. Fired with the tales of the tremendous

austerities of the Master, these monks practised them to a great extent as

regards food, dress, and other necessaries of life. How to realize God was

their one absorbing thought.

Character-building and realization became the watchword of their lives.

Some even thought of ending their lives by continued meditation without

food. Narendra was the leader of the group. He was alive to the difficulties

of the religious path.

So, with the utmost caution he began to mould their lives. He tried to

broaden their outlook by saturating their minds with universal ideas and

making them conversant with the essentials of the different branches of

human knowledge. The topics he took up for discussion were many and

varied, ranging from comparative religion and philosophy to history and

science. Most of the sublime ideas which he gave to the world afterwards as

the great Swami Vivekananda, were not new to these brother monks, for

they had heard them in the Baranagore days, or even earlier at Cossipore.

After some time even the holy atmosphere of the Baranagore Math seemed

to become constricting to them. They were anxious to go out into the wide

world and live as wandering monks, depending solely on God. All, except

Shashi who chose to stay by the sacred relics of the Master at the Math, one

by one embraced a wandering life,

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determined to tread the path of austerity and renunciation hallowed by the

footsteps of the ancient Indian monks.

They wandered all over the country from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin,

relying upon God.

They had to undergo the travails of a new birth to become the spiritual

giants the world knew later.

Behind this metamorphosis there was the constant and unerring hand of the

Man who chiselled their characters, curbed the impetuosity of their spirit,

held tight the reins that directed their course, and brought about their

perfection. As a matter of fact, every one of these young men whom the

Master had made his very own represented one or more phases of his own

multiple personality. The great qualities of head and heart which found

expression in these spiritual giants give us some idea, at least, of how

wonderful must have been the illustrious Prototype in whom these qualities

appeared in the highest degree. When the Swami Vivekananda rose to the

highest pinnacle of his fame, when East and West vied with each other to

honour him, this was the tribute he paid to his Master:

‘If there has been anything achieved by me, by thoughts, or words, or

deeds, if from my lips has ever fallen one word that has helped any one in

the world, I lay no claim to it, it was his. But if there have been curses

falling from my lips, if there has

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 121

been hatred coming out of me, it is all mine, and not his. All that has been

weak has been mine, and all that has been life-giving, strengthening, pure,

and holy, has been his inspiration, his words, and he himself. Yes, my

friends, the world has yet to know that man.’

SOME SAYINGS

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 heaven of day? So, O man, because

you behold not God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no

God.

{

God is formless and God is with form too, and He is that which transcends

both form and formlessness. He alone can say what else He is.

{

God with form is visible, nay we can touch Him, as one does his dearest

friend.

{

So long as the sound of a bell is audible, it exists in the region of form; but

when it is no longer heard, it has become formless. Similarly God is both

with form and formless.

{

The watchman can see with a dark lantern (bull’s-eye) everyone on whom

he throws its rays, but no one can see him so long as he does not turn

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 123

the light upon himself. So does God see everyone but no one sees Him until

the Lord reveals Himself to him in His mercy.

{

The sun lights up the earth, but a small cloud will hide it from our view.

Similarly, the insignificant veil of Maya prevents us from seeing the

omnipresent and all-witnessing Sat-chit-ananda—

Existence-Knowledge-Bliss.

{

If I hold this cloth before me, you cannot see me any more, though I am still

as near to you as ever. So also, though God is nearer to you than anything

else, yet by reason of the screen of egoism you cannot see Him.

{

When shall I be free? When that ‘I’ has vanished. ‘I and mine’ is ignorance;

‘Thou and Thine’ is knowledge.

{

By acquiring the conviction that all is done by the will of God, one becomes

only a tool in His hand. Then one is free, even in this life.

{

If, after all, you cannot destroy this ‘I’, then let it remain as ‘I the servant’.

The self that knows itself

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA

as the servant and lover of God will do little mischief.

{

If you are in right earnest to be good and pure, God will send you the Sat-

Guru, the right Teacher.

Earnestness is the one thing necessary.

{

Very few understand that the aim of human life is to see God.

{

The worldly-minded never come to their senses, even though they suffer

and have terrible experiences. Camels are very fond of thorny shrubs.

The more they eat of them, the more do their mouths bleed, yet they do not

refrain from making them their food.

{

As a boy holding to a post or pillar whirls about it with headlong speed

without fear of falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold

firmly upon God; and you shall be free from danger.

{

What are you to do when you are placed in this world? Give up everything

to Him, resign yourself to Him, and there will be no more trouble for you.

Then you will come to know that every-

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 125

thing is done by His Will.

{

A person living in society, specially as a householder, should make a show

of the spirit of resisting evil for purposes of self-defence, but at the same

time trying to avoid paying back evil for evil.

{

As wet wood put on a furnace, loses its moisture gradually, so the moisture

of worldliness dries away of itself from the man who has taken refuge in

God and repeats His holy name. He who intends to think of God, after his

attachment to things has ceased, will never be able to do so; for that time

will never come.

{

He is born to no purpose who, having the rare privilege of being born a

man, is unable to realize God in this life.

{

God is in all men, but all men are not in God, that is the reason why they

suffer.

{

You cannot get butter by crying yourself hoarse, ‘There is butter in the

milk!’ If you wish to make butter, you must turn the milk into curds, and

churn it well. Then alone you can get butter.

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA

So if you long to see God, practise spiritual exercises.

{

Verily, verily, I say unto you that he who wants Him finds Him. Go and

verify it in your own life; try for three days and you are sure to succeed.

{

You will see God if your love for Him is as strong as that of the attachment

of the worldly-minded person for things of the world.

{

The darkness of centuries is dispersed as soon as a single light is brought

into the room. The accumulated ignorance and misdoings of innumerable

births vanish at one glance of the gracious eyes of God.

{

Pray to Him in any way you will. He is sure to hear you, for He hears even

the footfall of an ant.

{

If there is a small hole in the bottom of a jar, the whole water flows out by

and by: similarly, if there be the slightest tinge of worldliness in the

aspirant, all his exertions come to nought.

{

SRI RAMAKRISHNA 127

Man is born in this world to realize God, it is not good to forget that and

divert the mind to other things.

{

Only two kinds of people can attain Self-knowledge: those whose minds are

not encum-bered at all with learning, that is to say, not over-crowded with

thoughts borrowed from others, and those who, after studying all the

scriptures and sciences, have come to realize that they know nothing.

{

Q.: Where is God? How can we reach Him?

A.: There are pearls in the sea; but you must dive again and again, until you

find them. So God is in the world, but you will have to persevere, to see

Him.

{

There are pearls in the deep sea, but one must hazard all to find them. If

diving once does not bring you pearls, you need not therefore conclude that

the sea is without them. Dive again and again.

You are sure to be rewarded in the end. So is it with the finding of the Lord

in this world. If your first attempt proves fruitless, do not lose heart.

Persevere in your efforts. You are sure to realize Him at last.

{

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SRI RAMAKRISHNA

If a man desires to seek the king in his palace, he will have to go to the

palace and pass through all the gates; but if after entering the outermost gate

he exclaims, ‘Where is the king?’ he will not find him; he must go on

through the seven gates and then he will see the king.

{

It is easy to utter ‘do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do’ by mouth, but not so easy to

play them on an instrument. So it is easy to talk religion but difficult to

practise it.

{

The intoxication of the hemp is not to be had by repeating the word ‘hemp’.

Get the hemp, rub it with water into a solution and drink it, and you will get

intoxicated. What is the use of loudly crying, ‘O God, O God!’? Regularly

practise devotion and you shall see God.

Document Outline
Preface
Contents
Introductory
Parentage
Birth and Beyond
In the Temple-Garden of Dakshineshwar
The Divine Mother
God-Intoxication
Bhairavi Brahmani and a Vaishnavi saint
One with The Absolute
Travelling into Other Faiths
Finding Divinity in the wife
Pilgrimage
Contact with some notables
The coming of the Devotees
Monastic Disciples
Women Devotees
Last Days
End of The Drama
After the Passing
Some Sayings