Early years at Dakshineswar

After their arrival in Calcutta, Ramkumar, his elder brother, was appointed chief priest at the newly built Kali Temple at Dakshineswar in 1855 AD. Ramkrishna joined him soon afterwards as assistant priest. His second brother Rameshwar too, officiated as priest there from time to time. It was during this period that a profound change came over Ramkrishna as he became more and more immersed in the thoughts of God and less and less interested in ritual worship. As a result his 'official' work as priest began to suffer.

In 1859, when he was twenty-three, Ramkrishna was married off to Saradamoni Devi, who was then only six years old! It was a strange marriage, as he had no interest in conjugal life and agreed to marry Sarada Devi only because he had premonition of her own divine attributes.

After his marriage, Ramakrishna returned to Dakshineswar alone and very soon his strange behaviour started to attract the attention of the temple attendants. Ramakrishna would have 'visions' of God, 'talk' to the image of the Goddess and sometimes put flowers on his own head, that were meant to be offered to the deity! Sometimes he would become so engrossed in conducting the evening rituals, he would forget to stop at all. On one occasion he even ate the prasada (food offering) meant for God.

This kind of behaviour aroused the anger of the temple authorities who wanted him to be dismissed. But due to the intervention of Mathur Babu (Son-in-law of Rani Rashmoni, the owner of the Temple), who recognized the symptoms of a prophet in him, Ramakrishna was relieved from his priestly duties and given the freedom to pursue his own ways.

The Years of Sadhana (learning)

Dakshineswar in those days attracted many holy men and women from different parts of India, who came to visit the famed Kali temple and stayed at the Guest House provided by the authorities. A Brahmin lady (referred to as Bhairavi Ma) was one such person who played a crucial part in the spiritual development of Ramakrishna, teaching him the path of Tantra.

After this, another holy man named Tota Puri came to Dakshineswar and taught Ramakrishna the essence of Vedanta philosophy, which later formed the basis of Ramakrishna's vision of the world. For eleven months, Tota Puri expounded the sacred scriptures of the Vedas and Upanishads, which spoke of the One Universal God.

The third major influence during this time came from Pandit Vaishnava Charan and Pandit Padma Lochana, noted scholars of the Vaishnavas, who took Ramakrishna to many religious assemblies where Chaitanya Deva was worshipped. On one occasion, Ramakrishna actually sat down on a seat kept apart for the Divine Incarnate, blissfully unaware of the consternation he was causing!

According to the great biographer, Sri'M',"Like Chaitanya, he used to pass through three different states of religious consciousness viz., the purely internal or self-consciousness state, in which there can be no outward consciousness; the half-consciousness state in which outward perception is not entirely lost; and the consciousness state in which it is possible for one to chant the holy name of the Lord.

Another major influence was Jatadhari, a devotee of Lord Rama, who gave Ramakrishna an idol of Ramlala, which he worshipped regularly.

In 1875, Keshav Chandra Sen, one of the founders of the Brahmo Samaj met Ramakrishna and there developed a close relationship between the two, which lasted till Keshav died in 1884.

Between 1879-82, Ramakrishna began to have a close circle of followers- mostly young men who were devoted to him, and visited him often at Dakshineswar. Among them was Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) who become his closest and best-loved disciple.

"Many roads leading to the same goal"

After passing through the several stages of spiritual development and becoming totally 'one with God' - Ramakrishna wanted to experience God as defined by different religions. This culminated in his having a vision of Jesus. During this period he visited a church and watched a service in progress. Similarly he followed the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and prayed intensely as a Muslim. Again had a vision of Allah, the Supreme Being.

These experiences had a profound impact on him as he now became convinced about the 'oneness' of God and believed that different religious paths led but to the same Divine Experience. Needless to say, many people regarded him as a 'madman' and not to be taken seriously, but a growing number of people were ready to believe that he was God Incarnate and therefore able to experience things beyond the vision of ordinary mortals.

In 1885, Sri Ramakrishna was afflicted with throat cancer, and he left for his heavenly abode on 16th August 1886. After his death, his followers, notably Swami Vivekananda, began spreading his message and the Ramakrishna Mission came into being in 1897.

Ramakrishna was born in the village of Kamarpukur in the district of Hoogly, West Bengal, on 18th February 1836. His father was Khudiram Chatterjee, a poor Brahmin, and his mother was Chandramoni Devi, a devout and kind hearted lady. It is said that Khudiram, while on a pilgrimage to Gaya , dreamt that Lord Gadadhar (Vishnu) would be born in his family as his own son. Ramakrishna, who was born soon after was therefore named Gadadhar.

In his childhood, Ramakrishna was loved by all the neighbours for his good nature and dutiful manners. Even as a small boy, Ramakrishna showed deep devotion to God and attended the daily worship of the family deity Raghuvir. Ramakrishna sang beautifully and picked up devotional songs from theatrical performances enacted in the village. He also had the opportunity of attending to and serving holy men as his neighbours, the Lahas, often had monks and other Brahmin scholars staying in their guest- house.

At the age of five (1841), Ramakrishna had the first of what was to become his frequent 'visions' of God. He lost all consciousness and outwardly what appeared, like a trance, was later described by him as a state of complete submergence in God (Samadhi).

Ramakrishna lost his father at the age of seven and after passing through considerable hardship he and his elder brother Ram Kumar, came to Calcutta to seek a living for themselves.

Ramakrishna had very little formal education in his early life. He did receive some elementary lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic at the village school, but most of it was lost on him as his mind was always occupied by pious thoughts.

His real education came from the oral lectures given by holy men about the lives and teachings of saints and from their discourses on sacred books. He would listen with rapt attention and soon mastered the great epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana and the Bhagavata Gita which related to Rama and Krishna who are both regarded as incarnations of God by Hindus.

So even though he might be considered only half-literate in the academic sense, he was very knowledgeable when it came to matters regarding religion and worship. Moreover, what Ramakrishna possessed was an innate spirituality that reacted violently to worldly matters like money and marriage.

The advent of Sri Ramakrishna in the nineteenth century is regarded as one of the most significant events by Hindu believers. He came like a breath of fresh air and blew away many of the pre-conceived notions and discriminatory attitudes that had begun to develop in orthodox Hindu society.

His greatest contribution was that he demonstrated that it was possible for anyone to reach God as long as he had faith and prayed with devotion. He demolished the notion of caste discrimination by emphasizing that God resided in every human soul, and one could 'see' Him only through self-discipline and prayer.

Secondly, Ramakrishna stated that there was no fundamental difference between the different religions because they all led to the same Universal God- the 'Brahman' or Impersonal God. He gave Vedanta the original philosophy of the ancient Vedic scriptures, a new lease of life by presenting it in a very simple and lucid manner to the people.

Moreover, Ramakrishna's own personality, which was simple and childlike yet profoundly wise, was also responsible for attracting many followers. People came from far off places to listen to his philosophical utterances, which were garbed in rustic language, and full of wit and humour.

Sri Ramakrishna charmed everyone who came to him with his simplicity and humility. He was not a well-read man, nor was he familiar with urban sophistication. Yet his rustic manners hid a sword-sharp wit and he would captivate listeners with anecdotes that were remarkable for their originality, depth of thought, profound wisdom and practical applicability.

His conversation was replete with colourful language and commonplace descriptions of events, but he had a unique way of relating it to religion so that ordinary people were immediately able to grasp the essence of his words. Ramakrishna loved to sing devotional songs and often asked his followers to sing to him. He would pass into Samadhi even while listening.

Ramakrishna's marriage to Sarada Devi was in many ways a turning point in his life. He himself believed it was pre-ordained and he treated her like 'Mother of the Universe'- the object of his worship. He would explain to her, as one would to a child, "Do not worry about being a mother of sons, one day you will be the Mother of the Universe";.

Sri Ramakrishna was almost child like in his innocence. His thoughts were always filled with God and he could not tolerate anyone who showed disrespect to God. Once it is said, he slapped Rashmoni Devi (owner of the Dakshineswar temple) for thinking about money while the evening service was going on. She, however, did not take offense, as she was fully aware of his eccentric personality and his deep devotion to God.

Ramakrishna's philosophy was deep-rooted in the teachings of Upanishads which were ancient texts laid down by the sages of the Vedic period. This came to be known as Vedanta. The essence of Vedanta is oneness or the absolute state of being.

Ramakrishna himself explained the apparent contradiction between 'form' and 'formless' worship as different stages in the personal attainment of God. He compared the human soul with a salt doll- once a salt doll enters the ocean water, it loses its identity and becomes dissolved in the sea water. Similarly, the individual egois like a salt doll and the AbsoluteGod is like the ocean. One who is fortunate enough to realise God in the infinite depths of Samadhi, loses all individuality and becomes one with God. This is the truth of Vedanta or Advaita (Non dualism) philosophy.

According to Ramakrishna, true knowledge of God removes all distinction from one's mind, and then there is no differentiation between Hindus, Muslims, Christianity and others because the practice of all religions lead ultimately to the same God.

The other premise of this philosophy is that all human beings are made up of three Gunas or qualities- the Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Sattva preserves, Rajas creates and Tamas destroys. This knowledge came to Ramakrishna in the form of 'Revelation' during his frequent communions with God, as indeed it had been revealed to the Vedic sages of the past.

Ramkrishna's philosophy is best understood through his own words (as quoted by Sri 'M'). Faith is at the root of all spiritual progress. You can do without all other things; only you must have faith.

The ideal householder will give up the world from the mind, that is he will give up the fruit of all work for the sake of the love of God.

The sign of True knowledge or Realization is cessation of doubt and therefore of all philosophical discussion.

It is a difficult task- that of teaching others. He who sees God receives His commandments. He alone who receives Lord's commandment, is competent to teach others.