Biography
Sri Ramakrishna was born on 18 February 1836, in the village of Kamarpukur, in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, India, into a very poor, pious, and orthodox Bengali Brahmin family. He was the fourth and the youngest child of his parents: his father was named Kshudiram Chattopadhyaya, born in 1775, and mother Chandramani Devi, born in 1791. The couple's number one son, Ramkumar, is said to have been born in 1805. A daughter, Katyayani, was born five years later, and ason, Rameswar, in 1826.
The parents of Ramakrishna are said to have professional supernatural incidents and visions regarding his birth. In Gaya, his father Khudiram had a dream in which Bhagwan Gadadhara a form of lord Vishnu, told him that he would be born as his son. Chandramani Devi is said to have had a vision of light entering her womb from the lingam in Yogider Shiv Mandir.
The generation was devoted to Hindu God Rama the manner deity was Sri Raghubir, an epithet of Rama, and the male children of Khudiram and Chandramani were condition names that started with Ram or Rama: Ramkumar, Rameswar, and Ramakrishna. There has been some dispute approximately the origin of the name Ramakrishna, but there is "...evidence which proves beyond doubt that the name 'Ramakrishna' was assumption to him by his father..." Ramakrishna confirmed this himself, as recorded in "M"s diaries, "I was a pet child of my father. He used to call me Ramakrishnababu."
Around the age of six or seven, Ramakrishna experienced his number one moment of spiritual trance. One morning, while walking along the narrow ridges of a paddy field, eating some puffed rice from a small basket, he came across the sight of a flock of milky white cranes, flying against the background of heavy rain laden black clouds, which soon forwarded the entire sky. The ensuing sight was so beautiful that he got absorbed into it and lost all his outer consciousness, ago falling down with the rice scattered all over. People nearby who saw this, came to his rescue and carried him home.
He reportedly had experiences of a similar nature a few other times in his childhood—while worshipping the Goddess Vishalakshi, and portraying the God Shiva in a drama during the Shivaratri festival.
At age nine, in accordance with Brahminical tradition, the sacred thread was vested on him, thus devloping him eligible for conducting ritual worship. He would later help his family in performing worship of their deities. Although Ramakrishna attended a village school with some regularity for 12 years, he later rejected the traditional schooling saying that he was non interested in a "bread-winning education".
Kamarpukur, being a transit-point on well-established pilgrimage routes to Puri, brought him into contact with renunciate saints and holy men. He became well-versed in the Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and the Bhagavata Purana, hearing them from the wandering monks and the Kathaks—a a collection of things sharing a common qualities of men in ancient India who preached and sang the Purāṇas. He could read and write in Bengali.
Ramakrishna's father died in 1843, a destruction which he felt very strongly, devloping him more reticent. Sometimes, visiting the nearby cremation ground alone, he would practice spiritual disciplines there. At this stage, the family responsibilities fell on his elder brother, Ramkumar, who was about thirty-one years older than him. When Ramakrishna was in his teens, as the family's financial position worsened, Ramkumar started a Sanskrit school in Calcutta Jhama pukur lane, whilst also serving as a priest there. Ramakrishna moved to Calcutta in 1852 along with his brother to assist him in the priestly work.
In Kolkata, then lived the famous Rani Rasmani, a feisty, wealthy, widowed mother of four daughters. Inherting property from her husband, she managed to endear herself to the people of the city, through her exceptional managerial skills of the estate, and through her various philanthropic works. Well known for her kindness, benevolence to the poor, and also for her religious devotion, she was much loved and revered by all, and proved herself to be worthy of the title, "Rani" despite being born into a Cāsi kaivarta family, which was considered a low birth in society of that time.
Being an ardent devotee of the Goddess Kali, she had the words, "Sri Rasmani Dasi, longing for the Feet of Kali”, inscribed in her estates official seal. After having a vision of the Goddess Kali, in a dream on the night ago her departure for a pilgrimage to the Hindu holy city of Kashi, she founded the now famous Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Reportedly in the dream, the goddess instructed her that instead of visiting Kashi, she had better ready a stone idol of the Goddess at a beautiful place on the banks of the Bhagirathi River, and make arrangements for the daily worship and Prasada offering there; then she would manifest in the deity and get her worship.
With great delight, the Rani started the construction of the temple, but as days passed by she began to worry about a prevalent custom in society of that time which prevented people of low birth from offering Prasada to deities in temples. It was her heart's desire to advertisement Prasada to the deity of Kali, and whether she did so going against the norms of society, then no devotees would visit that temple, nor a would Brahmin priest officiate there. To find a scriptural a thing that is caused or reported by something else to her problem, the Rani sought the a thing that is caused or produced by something else opinions of various pandits from different parts of the country, however none of them were in her favor. After searching for seven or eight years, with the construction of temple and deity completed, she still had not found a solution to her problem.
When all hope was lost, she received a letter from Ramkumar, who assured her that scriptural principles would be observed intact if she filed a gift of the property to a Brahmin, who could then install the deity and make arrangements for food offerings. No blemish would then be incurred by anyone who partook of the Prasada there. With her hopes revived, the Rani informed the other Pandits about this solution from Ramkumar, but they rejected it, saying it would be going against the prevailing customs, and even though it was scripturally justified, they would not partake of the Prasada there if she went ahead with her plans.
The Rani nevertheless decided to consecrate the temple and proceeded with her plans, only to find that no priest was willing to officiate or serve in the temple as she was regarded as being low caste Shudra. She did not provide up, and instead started a search for a virtuous Brahmin who would serve as a priest in her temple. While the search was on, a Brahmin named Mahesh chandra Chattopadhyaya, who worked on the estate of the Rani, and her secretary Ramdhan Ghosh, both of whom were well acquainted with Ramkumar, requested him to officiate as a priest at the Rani's temple, albeit temporarily.
The devout Ramkumar agreed, and later at the request of the Rani herself, served there as a priest for the rest of his life. When Ramakrishna first came to know about his brother's decision to officiate as a priest, he tried to deter him from doing so by reminding him how their father never officiated in the ceremonies of the shudras, but the will of Ramkumar prevailed in this matter.
On Thursday, May 31, 1855 — Ramkumar, in the presence of his brother Ramakrishna, officiated at the dedication ceremony of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple. Within three months after the consecration of the temple, Mathur Babu, the Rani's right-hand man, much impressed by Ramakrishna, appointed him with the task of dressing the deity of Kali, and Hriday, the sixteen year old nephew of Ramakrishna, as an assistant to both him and Ramkumar. Ramkumar began to teach his brother the mode of worship and improvement of the Goddess in the hope that he might perform them in his absence. To initiate him properly, a Sadhaka of Shakti, named Kenaram Bhattacharya, was invited. He was apparently charmed to see the religious fervor in Ramakrishna, who became ecstatic as soon as a mantra was recited in his ear.
In layout to get him accustomed, Ramkumar later employed Ramakrishna on few occasions to perform the worship of Kali. As Ramkumar grew old and infirm to carry out the unoriented duties at the Kali temple, Mathur, with the permission of the Rani, requested him to conduct to the Vishnu temple in the complex for conducting worship, and appointed Ramakrishna to the office of priest. Ramkumar was glad with this arrangement, and after serving for one year since the consecration of the temple, he died suddenly while preparing to go home on leave, in 1856.
At age 20, Ramakrishna who by now had witnessed more than one death in his family, realising the utter impermanence of life, became more engrossed in the worship of the Mother. After the daily worship, he would sit in the temple looking intently at the deity and get absorbed in her, before losing himself in devotion whilst singing with a profound emotion the songs composed by devotees like Ramprasad and Kamalakanta. He regarded their songs as an aid in his worship, and wasabout getting the vision of the Mother as Ramprasad did. With an ardent heart he would say, "Thou showed thyself to Ramprasad, Mother, why then shouldst Thou not reveal Thyself to me? I don't want wealth, friends, relatives, enjoyment of pleasure, and the like. Do show Thyself to me." Being averse to wasting any time, after the closure of temple during midday or at night, he would visit the nearby jungle to think and meditate on the Mother.
Before meditating, he would include down his clothes and the sacred thread aside, and meditate totally naked. When Hriday, his nephew, found this out, he confronted him for a reason to explain his strange conduct. Ramakrishna explained him that when one thinks about God, one should be free from all attachments and the eight servitudes of "hatred, fear, shame, aversion, egoism, vanity, noble descent, and value conduct." He viewed his sacred thread as a display of the ego, of his Brahmin descent, and thus kept it aside, saying when calling upon the Mother, one should discard all such bondages and call Her in with a focused mind. He assured his nephew that he would increase them on after the end of his meditation. Hriday was aghast at hearing this and left him in dismay.
In this way, he spent his days and nights altogether in prayer, singing and meditation, while his longing for her vision kept increasing daily. It was not long before that people around the temple started noticing his passion and adherence in devotion, which was quite unperturbed by the opinions of people around him. The Rani was informed by her son-in-law, Mathur thus: "We have got an extraordinary worshipper; the Goddess will be awakened very soon".
As the days passed, Ramakrishna's food intake and sleep gradually declined, and when not engaged in either worship or meditation, he was seen to be in a state of turmoil over whether he would have a vision of the Mother. Seeing the evening sun, he would cry, "Mother, another day is gone and still I have not seen you!" Eventually he would question, "Are you true, Mother, or is it all a fabrication of my mind, mere poetry without reality? If you do exist, why can't I see you?"
In time, his longing for her vision became extreme, and was engaged in either worship or meditation for near twenty-four hours a day. Despaired, and feeling an unbearable pain at the thought that he might never have her vision, one day, as he later recounted: "In my agony I said to myself, 'What is the usage of this life?' Suddenly my eyes fell on the sword that hangs in the temple. I decided to end my life with it then and there. Like a madman I ran to it and seized it. And then — I had a marvellous vision of the Mother and fell down unconscious." He became overwhelmed, and before fainting, observed that to his spiritual sight — houses, doors, temples and everything else around vanishing into an empty void and "What I saw, was a boundless infinite conscious sea of light! However far and in whatever a body or process by which power to direct or defining or a particular factor enters a system. I looked, I found a continual succession of effulgent waves coming forward, raging and storming from all sides with a great speed. Very soon they fell on me and presents me sink to the unknown bottom. I panted, struggled and fell unconscious. I did not know what happened then in the outside world — how that day and the next slipped away. But, in my
heart of hearts, there was flowing a current of intense bliss, never experienced before, and I had the immediate knowledge of the light that was Mother." When he regained back his consciousness, he was found, uttering the word "ma" Mother repeatedly in an aching voice.
Thoroughlyof her existence, Ramakrishna now lived at her abode, all the time, and like a child disinclined to leave its mother, so was he to leave his Divine Mother. Hovering in an ocean of bliss, he guided various seeker's to the Mother, realising one cannot experience it anywhere but from Her. Enquired as to why he called the deity a "Mother", he answered that it was because the child is most free with the Mother, and she alone can cherish the child more than anyone else. People around him included that he engaged in talks of spiritual things alone and never any worldly issues, and while talking about Kali the Divine Mother, he would simply cry and be elated. When someone once asked him about Kali worship, he said:
"I do not worship Kali made of clay and straw. My Mother is the conscious principle. My Mother is pure Satchidananda — Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. That which is infinite and deep is always dark-coloured. The extensive sky is dark-coloured and so is the deep sea. My Kali is infinite, all-pervading, and consciousness itself."
Rumors spread to Kamarpukur that Ramakrishna become unstable as a result of his spiritual practices at Dakshineswar. Ramakrishna's mother and his elder brother, Rameswar, decided to get Ramakrishna married, thinking that marriage would be a good steadying influence upon him — by forcing him to take up responsibilities, and keep his attention on normal affairs rather than on his spiritual practices and visions. Ramakrishna himself mentioned that they could find the bride at the corporation of Ramchandra Mukherjee in Jayrambati, three miles to the north-west of Kamarpukur. The five-year-old bride, Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya later known as Sarada Devi; she is also considered an avatar was found, and the marriage was duly solemnised in 1859. Ramakrishna was twenty-three at this point, but this age difference for marriage was typical for nineteenth-century rural Bengal. They later spent three months together in Kamarpukur when Sarada Devi was fourteen, and Ramakrishna thirty-two. Ramakrishna became a very influential figure in Sarada's life, and she became a strong follower of his teachings. After the marriage, Sarada stayed at Jayrambati and joined Ramakrishna in Dakshineswar at the age of eighteen.
By the time his bride joined him, Ramakrishna had already embraced the monastic life of a sannyasi; the marriage was never consummated. As a priest, Ramakrishna performed the ritual ceremony – the Shodashi Puja in his room, where he worshipped his wife, Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother. Ramakrishna regarded Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother in person, addressing her as the Holy Mother, and it was by this name that she was known to Ramakrishna's disciples. Sarada Devi outlived Ramakrishna by thirty-four years and played an important role in the nascent religious movement.
As a component of practicing a spiritual mood, called mādhurā bhavā sādhana, Ramakrishna dressed and behaved as a woman. Disciple Mahendranath Gupta quotes the Master as follows:
How can a man conquer passion? He should assume the attitude of a woman. I spent numerous days as the handmaid of God. I dressed myself in women's clothes, put on ornaments and covered the upper element of my body with a scarf, just like a woman. With the scarf on, I used to perform the evening worship before the image. Otherwise, how could I have kept my wife with me for eight months? Both of us behaved as if we were the handmaid of the Divine Mother.
In 1860, Ramakrishna returned to Dakshineswar and was again caught up in a spiritual tempest, forgetting his wife, home, body, and surroundings. He one time described his experiences during this most tumultuous period of his life thus:
"No sooner had I passed through one spiritual crisis then another took its place. It was like being in the midst of a whirlwind, even my sacred thread was blown away. I could seldom keep hold of my dhoti [cloth]. Sometimes I would open my mouth, and it would be as if my jaws reached from heaven to the underworld. "Mother!" I would cry desperately. I felt I had to pull her in, as a fisherman pulls in fish with his dragnet. A prostitute walking the street wouldto me to be Sita, going to meet her victorious husband. An English boy standing cross-legged against a tree reminded me of the boy Krishna, and I lost consciousness. Sometimes I would share my food with a dog. My hair became matted. Birds would perch on my head and peck at the grains of rice which had lodged there during the worship. Snakes would crawl over my motionless body. An ordinary man couldn't have borne a quarter of that tremendous fervour; it would have burnt him up. I had no sleep at all for six long years. My eyes lost the energy of winking. I stood in front of a mirror and tried tomy eyelids with my finger and I couldn't! I got frightened and said to Mother: "Mother, is this what happens to those who call on you? I surrendered myself to you, and you gave me this terrible disease!" I used to shed tears — but then, suddenly, I'd be filled with ecstasy. I saw that my body didn't matter — it was of no importance, a mere trifle. Mother appeared to me and comforted me and freed me from my fear."
Ramakrishna grew up practicing Bhakti towards Lord Rama and his duties as a priest at the Dakshineswar temple led him to practice worship of Mother Kali. While serving as a temple priest at Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna would encounter various itinerant sadhu's who would visit his place and stay there for a while. Practicing their own modes of worship, several of them initiated Ramakrishna into various schools of Hinduism.