Sri Ramkrishna :This 3d Picture of Sri Ramkrishna Created by Me (Manash Kundu) |
Ramakrishna (Bengali: রামকৃষ্ণ পরমহংস, (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay Bengali: গদাধর চট্টোপাধ্যায় , was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramkrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the HinduRenaissance during the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of his disciples and devotees believe he was an Avatar or incarnation of God He is also referred as "Paramhansha" by his devotees, as such he is popularly known as Ramkrishna Paramhamsa.
Sri Ramkrishna |
Sri Ramkrishna : Meditative Form |
Sri Ramkrishna :Famous Kalpataru Form |
Short Life Story Of Sri Ramkrishna with Pictures:
1) Sri
Ramakrishna’s father, Sri Kshudiram, gets a divine dream of his future son as
an incarnation of Lord Vishnu
Kshudiram
Chattopadhayaya, the father of Sri Ramakrishna, visited Gaya in 1835. He
offered worship to Lord Gadadhar (Sri Vishnu). One night he had a dream. He saw
himself in the holy temple, in the act of offering worship to his forefathers,
at the feet of Lord Gadadhar. Pleased by his prayer and worship that Divine
Being then spoke to him, 'Kshudiram, your extraordinary devotion has made me
very happy. I bless you. I shall be born as your son and be the object of your
loving care.' Soon after this Sri Ramakrishna was born. Kshudiram became
convinced that it is Lord Vishnu as Gadadhar who has been born as his son. The
boy was therefore named Gadadhar or Gadai.
2) Gadadhar,
the divine child in his birthplace Kamarpukur
Gadai or Gadadhar,
the childhood name of Sri Ramakrishna, was a child of unusual grace and beauty.
The neighbours rushed to look at the child. Those who saw him once were filled
with an indescribable joy and love for the child as their very own. They came
to see him again and again, even forgetting their own children. Even the people
of the neighbouring villages used to come to watch the divine child singing and
dancing. Gadai would often sing songs about Shiva, Shyama and Krishna, and
whoever would listen to him singing would be moved. The women of the village
used to give him sweets, and then ask him to sing for them. Especially, the
widows used to set aside for Gadai whatever they could procure.
3) Child Gadai
plays with Hanumanas – the black-faced monkeys
One day, with his
mother, Gadai was going to his maternal uncle's. On the way, they came to a
place where a large number of hanumanas (black-faced monkeys) were seated on a
tree. The child Gadai became excited seeing those monkeys. He ran towards the
group of monkeys and started chasing them. Those wild beasts did not attack
him; instead they came down from the branches to the ground and started playing
happily with Gadai. They were playing and dancing with a three-year-old human
child! Gadai was buried in the joy of dancing with them. The monkeys recognized
the presence of Lord Sri Rama in the form of the child Gadai.
4) Sri
Ramakrishna’s first divine ecstasy-samadhi-at the age of six
As a young boy, when
Gadadhar was one day walking through the rice field in his village, he first experienced
samadhi, which was to become the natural habitat in his future life. About this
first vision he said, 'There appeared a beautiful black cloud charged with
rain. I was looking at it while eating parched-rice. Very soon the cloud
covered almost the whole sky, when a flock of milk-white cranes flew against
that black could. It looked so beautiful that I became very soon absorbed in an
extraordinary mood. I was overwhelmed with bliss and my external consciousness
was lost. I fell down and the rice got scattered near the balk. People saw it
and carried me home.'
5) Boy
Gadadhar’s total absorption in Shiva on Shivaratri festiva
Once on Shivaratri, a
drama on Shiva was to be staged in Kamarpukur. The boy who was to play Shiva's
role fell ill. The elder people approached Gadai to play Shiva's role and he
agreed. Gadai entered the stage with calm and slow steps. Then he stood
motionless! The audience felt an indescribable but distinct divine emotion.
They were filled with joy and wonder when they saw Gadadhar in that dress, his
body smeared with ashes and his head with matted hair. He stood there with
streams of tears flowing down his cheeks without external consciousness. He was
carried home and he regained normal consciousness only the next day after sunrise.
6) The child
Ramakrishna breaks caste restrictions by accepting food from a blacksmith
mother
Dhani, a widow of
blacksmith caste in Kamarpukur was the first person to see Sri Ramakrishna, as
a midwife after his birth. To the boy Gadai she told one day that she would
consider herself blessed, if at the time of his sacred thread ceremony, he
would accept food from her and call her 'mother'. The boy promised to fulfill
her desire. On the day of the ceremony, Gadadhar put on the sacred thread and went
to his beloved blacksmith mother Dhani for food. The widow felt blessed. Her
long-cherished desire was fulfilled. The blacksmith mother, Dhani was now
respected as a spiritual mother of Gadadhar.
Picture of 1 To 6 parts |
7) The poor
villager Chinu Shankhari first worshipped Gadadhar as an incarnation of God
Chinu was a poor old
man of the village Kamarpukur belonging to the caste of conch-sellers. He was
extremely fond of young Gadai. One day Chinu prepared a beautiful garland of
flowers. In the meantime, Gadai arrived at his place. Seeing him Chinu was
overjoyed. He went to the market to buy some choicest sweets. They came to a
solitary spot near a tree at the end of the village Kamarpukur. Then Chinu
knelt down at Gadai’s feet in a mood of worship, and put the garland round his
neck. Then with tears of joy in his eyes, his voice choked with emotion, Chinu
fed Gadai with the sweets. After Gadai ate, with folded hands Chinu addressed
him, 'I have grown old and my days are numbered. I shall not live to witness
the divine play you are going to perform. That is my greatest regret. But keep
me in your mind and bless this servant of yours.' It was Chinu, the
conch-seller of Kamarpukur, who first recognized the presence of an incarnation
of God in Sri Ramakrishna even when he was a child.
8) Sri
Ramakrishna’s intense yearning brings him the vision of Kali
Kali, the
black-goddess, standing on the body of Shiva, is an ancient Hindu goddess. With
a severed demon head in hand, she stands victorious over evils. A chain of
human hands round her waist symbolizes that mother can destroy our accumulated
karmas. Her long protruded tongue destroys all the rajas or the intensity of
active life. When Sri Ramakrishna became a priest of Kali temple he thought,
'is this image of Kali only stone, or is it alive?’ His passion for the Mother
turned into an unbearable anguish in his heart. Then came the great moment. In
Sri Ramakrishna’s words, “My eyes suddenly fell upon the sword that was there
in the Mother’s temple. I made up my mind to put an end to my life with it that
very moment. Like one mad, I ran and caught hold of it, when suddenly I had the
wonderful vision of the Mother.’ Later on he described the great overwhelming
vision, “I found a continuous succession of effulgent waves coming forward,
raging and storming from all sides with great speed. Very soon the waves from a
luminous sea of consciousness fell on me and made me sink to the abysmal depths
of infinity. I had the immediate knowledge of the light that is Mother.” When
he regained consciousness, he first uttered the word 'Mother' in a vice choked
with emotion.
9) Sri
Ramakrishna sees a living and beloved God in the stone image of Krishna
It was the end of
A.D. 1855 when young Ramakrishna had just come to the Dakshineswar temple as a
priest. The priest, Kshetranath, while taking the image of Krishna, suddenly
fell down, and one leg of the image broke. Instantly, there arose a great
commotion in the temple over the event. They created much noise and finally
agreed that no worship of the deity was permissible with a broken part. Sri
Ramakrishna in an ecstatic mood asked the Rani, 'Why do you discard the broken
image?' Sri Ramakrishna asked her to ask the pundits this simple question, 'If
a woman's husband has broken his leg, what would be the course of action?
Should she then discard the leg or the husband himself or arrange for
treatment?' Finally they decided to accept the decision of Sri Ramakrishna. The
Rani now requested Sri Ramakrishna to mend the broken leg. Sri Ramakrishna
agreed and mended the broken leg and everybody was amazed that no flaw could be
detected in the image.
10) Sri
Ramakrishna practises tantric sadhana under the guidance of Bhairavi Brahmani
Bhairavi Brahmani, whose
real name was Yogeshwari, was a scholarly woman of aristocratic descent. She
dedicated her life for tantric practice as a wandering nun. The Brahmani made
Sri Ramakrishna undertake, one by one, all the disciplines prescribed in the
main sixty-four Tantras, all difficult to accomplish. Due to this tantra
sadhana, Sri Ramakrishna saw the vision of Divine Mother in every single entity
of this universe, especially in all women. After the tantra sadhana, he was
permanently converted to a child. Sri Ramakrishna became Paramahamsa of the
highest order for whom this world with all its holy and unholy things turned
into a world of purity, holiness and God.
11) With Sri
Ramakrishna’s love the stone image of child Rama becomes living
There came to
Dakshineswar temple a Vaishnava sadhu, Jatadhari by name. His whole soul was
absorbed in worshipping a small metal image of the child Rama or Ramalala.
After many years of worship the Babaji actually saw, out of devotion, that
Ramalala ate or wished to eat something, or wanted to go for a walk or insisted
on satisfying some fancy or other. Sri Ramakrishna was now drawn to the image,
his love for Ramalala increased. He was now inspired with Rama mantra from
Jatadhari. Sri Ramakrishna described his own experience, "I actually saw,
as I see you before me now, Ramalala dancing, sometimes in front of me,
sometimes behind. Sometimes he would insist on being carried in my arms. Again,
of took him up he would not stay there. He jumped down to run here and there
collecting flowers in thorny jungles."
12) Sri
Ramakrishna practices Nirakara sadhana under Tota Puri
Sri Ramakrishna
developed a desire to experience the formless (Nirakara) dimension of God.
There came to Dakshineswar a wandering monk named Tota Puri, who had
experienced the formless aspect of God. Tota Puri and Sri Ramakrishna soon fell
in love with each other. Tota asked the new monk now to meditate on Neti Neti
(not this not this) or the unreality of the phenomenal world and the reality of
Brahman. Finally, at his Guru's instruction, Sri Ramakrishna cut asunder the
relative form of his Mother with the sword of knowledge, and entered the realm
of the Absolute—the true abode of his mother Kali, in a state of deep samadhi.
Tota who had already experienced Nirvikalpa samadhi became astounded and
thought, if this great soul had actually realized in a day what he could
experience in forty years of austere sadhana! Tota then began to bring back the
disciple's consciousness of the external world, with loud chanting of 'Hari
Aum', which filled the sky of the Panchavati.
Picture of 7 To 12 parts |
13) Sri
Ramakrishna practises Sufi Islam sadhana under Govinda Ray
A Sufi seeker of God,
Govinda Ray, came one day to the Kali temple at Dakshineswar. Sri Ramakrishna
was charmed by Govinda's sincere faith and love for God, and his mind was
gradually attracted towards Sufi Islam. He decided to be initiated by Govinda
Ray and practice Sufi Islam. Govinda initiated him in Sufi faith. Sri
Ramakrishna then engaged himself in practicing Sufism according to its
prescribed rules. He devotionally repeated the holy syllable 'Allah', wore
cloth like the Muslims, said Namaz in a local mosque thrice daily. Sri
Ramakrishna spent three days in that mood, and had the full realization of
man's divinity through Sufi faith. Ramakrishna at first had the vision of an
effulgent, impressive personage with a long beard; he had the mystic experience
of the all-pervading God everywhere in this universe.
14) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of Mother Sita and Hanumana, the servant of Rama
One of Sri
Ramakrishna's visions with eyes wide open was about Sita and Hanumana. It came
to Sri Ramakrishna when he practiced the Dasya-bhakti or the spiritual attitude
of a servant of God as practised by Hanumana as an eternal servant of Sri Rama.
Sri Ramakrishna described, "One day I was sitting under the Panchavati—not
meditating, merely sitting—when an incomparable, effulgent female figure appeared
before me illumining the whole place. The extraordinary, spirited and solemn
expression of that face, manifesting love, sorrow, compassion and endurance,
was not generally seen even in the figure of goddesses. I wondered who she
might be, when a black-faced monkey came suddenly, nobody knew from where, and
fell prostrate at her feet and some one within my mind exclaimed, 'Sita, Sita.'
Calling her as 'Mother' repeatedly, I was then going to fling myself at her
feet, when she came quickly and entered this (showing his own body)."
15) Through Sri
Radha’s grace Sri Ramakrishna gets the vision of Sri Krishna
Sri Radha, Indian
devotional scriptures say, is the supreme example of prema, divine love based
on the greatest purity and intensity. The God-intoxicated mind of Sri
Ramakrishna at one time turned to Sri Radha's love for Sri Krishna. And soon he
had the vision of Sri Radha 'who shone with a bright yellow splendour, like the
stamens of the Nagakeshara flower'. The divine relationship of pure love with
Sri Krishna, which was the essence of Sri Radha, now possessed Sri Ramakrishna.
His love for Sri Krishna slowly intensified. Soon he had the vision of Sri
Krishna. After this vision he was buried in the thought of Sri Krishna for two
or three months and sometimes he looked on all beings as different forms of Sri
Krishna, who became alive thenceforward in Sri Ramakrishna's life.
16) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of child Jesus in the lap of Mary- the Motherhood of God
Sri Jadu Mallick, a
rich man of Calcutta was devoted to Sri Ramakrishna. When Sri Ramakrishna went
to Mallick's garden house he had a strange experience. A painting of Madonna
and child, artist now unknown, hung in Jadu Mallick's parlour. Sri Ramakrishna
was in that parlour looking intently at this picture. The child Jesus in the
lap of Mother Mary instantly ignited a spontaneous love for Mother as God in
Sri Ramakrishna, a child of Kali. Suddenly he felt that both Mother and child
in the picture became luminous and alive and both of them entered into his own
body. Sri Ramakrishna had the vision of Christ not on the Cross, but on the lap
of Mother Mary. He was identified with God as Mother.
17) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of Jesus, the Son of God
After the vision of
Child Christ on the lap of Mother Mary in the garden house of Jadunath Mallick,
Sri Ramakrishna came back to Dakshineswar temple and remained constantly
absorbed in the new vision. He forgot altogether to go to the temple of Mother
Kali and offer salutations to Her. At last, when the third day was about to
close, Sri Ramakrishna saw, while walking in Panchavati at Dakshineswar that a
marvelous God-man of very fair complexion was coming towards him, looking
steadfastly at him. As soon as Sri Ramakrishna saw that person, the person
approached him, and from the bottom of Sri Ramakrishna's pure heart came out
the words, 'Jesus! Jesus the Christ, the great Yogi, the loving Son of God and
one with the Father.' Jesus, the God-man, then embraced Sri Ramakrishna and
disappeared into his body.
18) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of Shiva in the cremation ground of golden Kashi
During 1869 Sri
Ramakrishna went on a pilgrimage along with Mathur Babu to the Holy city of
Kashi, the spiritual capital of India. In Varanasi, one sees the sights of the
temples better on boat tours. On one such tour, with Mathur and Hriday, Sri
Ramakrishna came to a point opposite to the Manikarnika Ghat, the well-known
cremation ground of Varanasi. On the steps of this cremation ground, Sri
Ramakrishna had the vision of the majestic Shiva. He later said, 'I saw a tall
white person with tawny matted hair walking carefully to each Jiva (the dead
body) and imparting into his ear the mantra of supreme Brahman. Sri
Ramakrishna's bodyhair stood on end, and he walked out of the cabin of the
boat, to its very edge. The boatman cried to Hriday to catch hold of him, but
Sri Ramakrishna was seeing only the Lord Shiva, standing on the steps,
'embodying in himself,' he later said, 'all the solemnity of the world'.
Finally, the figure of Shiva approached Sri Ramakrishna and merged in him.
Picture of 13 To 18 parts |
19) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of Sri Chaitanya and Sri Nityananda at Navadwip
Sri Ramakrishna used
to say that God incarnated as Sri Chaitanya for preaching the redeeming power
of God's name. Sri Ramakrishna used to go to trance while singing the glories
of the two brothers, Sri Chaitanya and Sri Nityananda. Once he went by boat to
Navadwip, the birthplace of Chaitanya, in order to fell the presence of the two
mighty souls even after hundreds of years. Sri Ramakrishna went here and there.
He felt dejected and regretted his going there. Then Sri Ramakrishna said, 'I
was going to step into the boat for my trip back, when I saw a wonderful
vision; Two beautiful boys of tender age- I never saw such beauty' they had
complexion of molten gold-each having an orb of light round his head, raising their
hands and looking at me, were running towards me through the sky. And I cried
out immediately, 'There they (Sri Chaitanya and Sri Nityananda) come, there
they come.' scarcely had I uttered these words before they came and entered
here (his own body); I lost normal consciousness and fell down.'
20) Sri
Ramakrishna realises Lord Buddha as an incarnation of God
There was a stone
statue of Buddha in the living room of Sri Ramakrishna in Dakshineswar. On 24th
May, 1884 Sri Ramakrishna while in his living room at Dakshineswar said to a
devotee, 'I have heard a great deal about Buddha. He is one of the ten
Incarnations of God. Brahman is immovable, immutable, inactive, and of the
nature of Consciousness. When a man merges his buddhi, his intelligence in Bodha
of Consciousness, then he attains the Knowledge of Brahman; he becomes Buddha,
the enlightened.' On another occasion when someone pointed out that Buddha was
an atheist, Sri Ramakrishna said, 'Why should he be an atheist? He could not
express in ordinary language that great experience of final enlightenment which
is beyond words.'
21) Sri
Ramakrishna sees God in human beings: Sri Krishna in an English boy
Once Sri Ramakrishna
had the vision of Sri Krishna in a European boy. Perhaps, it was at this time,
that Sri Ramakrishna was taken to the maidan (vast open field) in Calcutta, for
'fresh air' or to see balloon ascension. There was a great crowd. 'Suddenly',
he tells us, 'I saw an English boy leaning against a tree. As the boy stood
there his body was bent in three places. The vision of Krishna came before me
in a flash. I went into samadhi.' This is the famous tribhanga posture in which
the Krishna is known to be playing on His flute in Vrindavan. All distinctions
between a white-skinned English boy and the black cowherd of Vrinavan were
obliterated. Only God remained.
22) Sri
Ramakrishna gets the divine command to remain in the realm of both the Absolute
and the Relative
Sri Ramakrishna was
blessed for the first time with the vision of the Divine Mother, but many in
the temple distrusted his visions. One day Sri Ramakrishna's cousin, Haladari,
a pundit in scriptures, who was always skeptical about those visions, pointed
out, that these visions were illusions, as God was beyond existence and non-existence.
Extremely anxious, he cried with the feeling of a wounded son and said to
Mother Kali, 'Should thou, O Mother, deceive me so, because I am unlettered and
ignorant? Some time afterwards I saw a fog like smoke, rising suddenly from the
floor and filling some space in front of me. I saw in that smoke a beautiful
living face of golden complexion, with beard reaching to the breast! That
figure looked steadfastly at me and said with a profound voice, 'My child,
remain in the state of Bhavamukha.' Remain in the state of 'Bhavamukha'-Remain
in both the worlds, the Absolute and the Relative.
23) Sri
Ramakrishna asks rich Mathur to serve the poor, the living Gods, at Vaidyanath
Sri Ramakrishna was
on his way to the pilgrimage of Varanasi, Vrindavan and other holy places with
his disciple and temple steward Mathur. In Bihar, Sri Ramakrishna's heart was
filled with pain after seeing the poverty and misery of the village people.
When he was going through a village near Vaidyanath Shiva temple, he told
Mathur that he was only a manager of Mother's estate and he must give those
people oil for both, a piece of cloth, and one good meal to each of them.
Seeing such compassion in Sri Ramakrishna, Mathur brought cloth from Calcutta
and served the poor as his Master asked him to do. Sri Ramakrishna was now
filled with joy to see the villagers happy and started his journey to Varanasi.
24) Sri
Ramakrishna brings divine bliss to the common masses
Phului-Shyambazar is
a simple Bengal village situated a few miles away from Sihor, the native
village of Hriday, Sri Ramakrishna's nephew. Accompanied by Hriday, he went
there lived there for seven days and enjoyed the devotional music. Then he went
to common people of Shyambazar. Hearing the news of Sri Ramakrishna's coming,
many music parties from villages around gathered and he started singing with
them night and day and frequently went info samadhi. People forgot food and
sleep by listening to Sri Ramakrishna's song. Anxious to see him in samadhi,
many climbed up trees and got on the roofs of houses. People began to talk of
Sri Ramakrishna in samadhi as a devotee of God who dies and revives many times
a day.
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25) Sri
Ramakrishna worships his young wife, Sri Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother
It was the new-moon
day in May, 1873, the holy occasion of the worship of the Phalaharini Kali, or
the Kali. Sri Ramakrishna had made special preparations on that day to worship
Mother Kali not in the temple, but in his own room. Sri Sarada Devi who had
just completed eighteen years was asked to sit on the wooden seat meant for the
Kali image. Afterwards, Sri Ramakrishna worshipped Kali in the person of Sarada
Devi with all the necessary rituals and after that offered forever at her feet
the results of his sadhanas, his rosary etc. with the prayer 'O Thou, the
auspiciousness of all auspicious, things! O doer of all actions! O refuge! O
the three-eyed One! O the fair complexioned spouse of Shiva! O Narayani! I bow
down to thee, I bow down to thee!'
26) Sri
Ramakrishna sees the Divine Mother Kali and his own mother, in his wife Sri
Sarada Devi
One day in
Dakshineswar, while Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, was massaging Sri
Ramakrishna's feet, she asked him, 'How do you look on me?' He replied, 'The
same Mother who is in the temple, the same Mother who has given birth to this
body and is now living in the music tower-it is the same Mother who is now
massaging my feet. Truly, I always look upon you as a form of the blissful
Divine Mother.' Later on, Sri Ramakrishna spoke about her; 'She is my Shakti'.
Again he said, 'She is Sarada, she is Sarasvati, the goddess of learning. She
has come to give knowledge.'
27) Sri
Ramakrishna’s vision of Nara-Narayana in Narendranath
Accompanied by a
devotee and a few friends, Narendra one day came to Dakshineswar and entered
the small room of Sri Ramakrishna. He came by the western door, as Sri
Ramakrishna described afterwards, careless about his body and dress, and unlike
other people, not mindful of the external world. On Sri Ramakrishna's request,
he began singing a Brahmo song, 'Shortly after I sang the song; he suddenly
rose and, taking me by the hand, led me to the northern veranda, shutting the
door behind him. He said, 'Ah, you have come so late! How could you be so
unkind as to keep me waiting so long! My ears are well nigh burnt by listening
to the profane talk of worldly people.' The next moment he stood before me with
folded hands and began to address me, 'Lord, I know you are that ancient sage,
Nara, the incarnation of Narayana, born on earth to remove the miseries of
mankind.'
28) Sri
Ramakrishna’s epochal message of Shivajnane Jivaseva - Serve living beings as
Shiva
Some time in 1884, in
Dakshineswar Sri Ramakrishna was sitting in his room surrounded by the
devotees. Narendra also was present there. There arose the topic of the
Vaishnava religion in the course of the conversation. Speaking on the essence
of Vaishnava doctrine, Sri Ramakrishna said, 'That doctrine teaches that one
should always be careful to observe three things, namely, a taste of God's
name, kindness to all beings and the worship of Vaishnavas. No sooner had he
uttered the words, 'compassion for all beings,' than Sri Ramakrishna suddenly
went into ecstasy. Regaining partial normal consciousness in a short while, he
continued, 'Talk of compassion for beings! Will you, a little wretch, bestow
compassion on human being? Is not a human being God Himself? No, no; not
compassion to Jivas, but service to all living beings as Shiva
Himself—Shivajnane Jivaseva.'
29) Sri
Ramakrishna prophesies to Keshab Sen that his message would travel far and wide
The Brahmo leader
Keshab Chandra Sen stirred England and India with his eloquent lectures. He was
honoured by even Queen Victoria as one of the most eminent religious leaders of
nineteenth century India. In January 1881, during the winter festival (Maghotsava)
of the Brahmos, Keshab went to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. He
offered two bouquets at Sri Ramakrishna's feet and bowed down to him. Sri
Ramakrishna also saluted him. Sri Ramakrishna gave no publicity, held no
meetings, yet people of all faiths and from all walks of life flocked to him,
turning his room every day into 'a parliament of religions'. Sri Ramakrishna
spoke in parables full of similes culled from everyday life. Yet they would
immediately reveal deep spiritual truths in a single flash of illumination.
30) At Girish
Ghosh’s theatre Sri Ramakrishna blesses sixteen actresses rejected as fallen by
the society
Girish Ghosh was a
well-known dramatist-actor-poet of Bengal. His play on Sri Chaitanya stirred
Calcutta and a large area of Bengal. One day, Girish was very happy to welcome
Sri Ramakrishna at his theatre. Fully conscious of Sri Ramakrishna's divinity,
he called all the actors and actresses to come to Sri Ramakrishna and take his
blessings. On his call, everyone assembled there; the male actors came and took
the dust of his feet. Being assured by Girish's call, the prostitutes who were
actresses in his theatre, came in a group. There were sixteen of them, all in
their full youth, nicely dressed. Seeing them Sri Ramakrishna was seized with a
divine mood and started singing with his sweet voice a song about Mother Kali.
Listening to his song, all those women were spell bound. One of them, Binodini
by name, dropped unconscious on the ground under Sri Ramakrishna's feet and a
divine lustre began to glow on her face. Sri Ramakrishna blessed them all.
Picture of 24 To 30 parts |
31) Sri
Ramakrishna’s grace for the neglected ones: Rasik - the sweeper of Dakshineswar
Rasik was a sweeper
in the temple garden of Dakshineswar. He used to call Sri Ramakrishna 'Father'.
One day when Sri Ramakrishna was returning from the direction of the
Panchavati, absorbed in a spiritual mood, Rasik prostrated before him and
prayed with folded hands, 'Father, why don't you bless me? What will happen to
me?' Sri Ramakrishna assured him, 'You have no need to fear. You will see me at
the time of death.' And that is exactly what happened. To be freed from
brahminic pride, he cleaned the open drain of the sweeper Rasik's house with
his own hair while praying, 'Mother, destroy my pride of being a Brahmin.'
32) Sri
Ramakrishna’s grace on the ruffian Manmatha in the house of Yogin-ma
Yogin-ma or Yogindra
Mohini Devi was a great woman devotee of Sri Ramakrishna, who met him at a
moment of terrible torment in her family. Once when Yogin offered flowers at
his feet, Sri Ramakrishna touched her head and chest. When for the first time
Yogin-ma invited Sri Ramakrishna to her house, her brother Hiralal asked
Manmatha, a local ruffian, to be present on order to frighten Sri Ramakrishna
away. But Manmatha, after seeing Sri Ramakrishna and hearing a few of his
words, fell at his feet and wept, saying, 'My Lord, I am guilty. Please forgive
me.' When Manmatha went to Dakshineswar Sri Ramakrishna treated him very kindly
touched his body and asked him to put on the Brahmin's sacred thread. Manmatha
went to see Sri Ramakrishna for the last time in Calcutta. Sri Ramakrishna
asked one disciple to bring a photograph and with his own hand gave it to
Manmatha. Without speaking a word to anyone Manmatha ran out repeating, 'Priya
Nath, Priya Nath (Beloved Lord, Beloved Lord).' Shortly after Manmatha died of
cholera.
33) Sri
Ramakrishna reveals himself as a mighty incarnation power before Gauri Pundit
and Vaishnav Charan at Dakshineswar
One day, Sri
Ramakrishna had gone to the Kali temple accompanied by Gauri Pundit. As soon as
he came near the temple, Sri Ramakrishna began to feel divinely intoxicated. At
that time, Mathur arrived there and soon after was followed by Vaishnav Charan,
the well-known Vaishnava saint, whom Mathur had invited at the wish of Sri
Ramakrishna. As Sri Ramakrishna saw Vaishnav Charan, he at once gave a loud
cry, and ascended, as if in a trance, on Vaishnav's shoulder. By Sri
Ramakrishna's touch it appeared that Vaishnav was empowered with some
supernatural power. A divine consciousness now dawned upon him. He began to
compose there itself new hymns in praise of Sri Ramakrishna. Gauri, the tantric
pundit hearing the beautiful hymn just composed by Vaishnav Charan, became
silent with wonder and was silently contemplating the significance of Sri
Ramakrishna's actions. Gauri now rolled on the ground again and again at Sri
Ramakrishna's feet. He was yearning for Sri Ramakrishna's grace.
34) Sri
Ramakrishna’s self revelation as divine incarnation on 1st January, 1886
It was the first day
of January 1886 in Cossipore garden house. Sri Ramakrishna who was suffering
from throat cancer felt rather well that day. He expressed a desire to come out
of his room and have a walk in the garden for sometime. More than thirty
devotees like Girish Chandra Ghosh, Ram Chandra Dutta, Akshay Kumar Sen and
others gathered in the garden. As soon as they saw Sri Ramakrishna coming out,
all got up and bowed down to him. The fervent utterance of the devoted Girish
immediately brought an exalted divine mood in Sri Ramakrishna and he blessed
all the devotees assembled there with the words, 'What more shall I say to you?
May you all be illumined!'
35) Sri
Ramakrishna distributes ochre cloth and rosary among his young disciples
Every year during the
Indian festival of Makara-Sankranti monks and pilgrims from all over India go
to the pilgrimage of Gangasagar, which is the confluence of the Ganga and the Bay
of Bengal. Gopal, an aged disciple of Sri Ramakrishna had a little money and
wanted to acquire virtue by offering cloth to holy people on the auspicious
day. On Tuesday, 12th January 1886 the auspicious day of Makara-Sankranti,
Gopal gave the ochre cloths and rosaries to Sri Ramakrishna who sanctified them
with a mantra. He himself then distributed them among his young disciples. They
put on the ochre cloths and saluted Sri Ramakrishna who was pleased to see them
in monastic cloths and blessed them. The disciples who received the ochre
cloths were: Narendra, Rakhal, Niranjan, Baburam, Shashi, Sharat, Kali, Jogin,
Latu, Tarak and Gopal. The twelfth cloth and rosary, according to Sri
Ramakrishna's instruction, was set aside for Girish Ghosh.
36) Sri Ramakrishna
reveals himself to Naren as an incarnation of Sri Rama & Sri Krishna
As the days of Sri
Ramakrishna's passing away came near, his emaciated body frightened many. The
earlier self-revelations of Sri Ramakrishna were getting eclipsed. One night
while standing by his bed at night, the doubt arose in Naren's mind, 'Sri
Ramakrishna has said many a time that he is an Incarnation of God. If he now
says in the midst of the throes of death, in this terrible moment of human
anguish and physical pain, 'I am God incarnate', then I will believe.' No
sooner had Naren thought this than Sri Ramakrishna said, 'O my Naren, are you
yet not convinced? He who was Sri Rama, He who was Sri Krishna, He Himself is
now Ramakrishna in this body: but not in your Vedantic sense.'
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