I D SONI
Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was born in a little village Kamarpurkar in Bengal on February 18, 1836. His father and mother were God fearing and pious. Poor were they in the wealth of the world, but rich in the treasures of the heart. And though there were occasions when they did not have sufficient food for themselves, they did not hesitate in sharing what little they had with the poor and starving ones.
From his childhood, Sri Ramakrishna who was called Gadhadar, was brought up in an atmosphere of poverty but also of contentment. He was endowed with an unusual mind and from his early days, his mind was inclined towards God. In other ways he was full of fun and frolic, love and laughter. He was sent to school but he did not take interest in school subjects, least of all in mathematics. Arithmetic was the subject he simply could not learn. His teacher tried to pump knowledge into his head but Gadhadar was unresponsive until one day, in a mood of exasperation, the teacher sent word to his elder brother: “It were easier to teach the desk on which Gadhadar writes rather than to teach Gadhadar. Please do not send the boy to school any longer.”
As he grew in years, he grew in beauty. He grew in the power solitude. When he was sixteen years old, he came to Calcutta and began to serve as a priest in the Dakshineshwar temple, where worship is offered unto Kali, the Divine Mother of the universe.
Gadhadar regarded kali as his own mother, he called her his Divine Mother. The Divine Mother to him, was not a mere idol, a mere statue. He would often say, “Even as I dwell within this body, so does the Divine Mother dwell within this idol.” And he would cry out again and again and still again, “O Mother Divine Reveal thyself to me! Reveal thyself to me!”
The Spiritual experiences of Sri Ramakrishna cover a wide range. He had the vision of the personal God and he realised his complete identity with the impersonal God, the spirit, the universal son! Sri Ramakrishna had a vision of Sri Rama, he had vision of Sri Krishna, he had a vision of Jesus Christ.
Sri Ramakrishna always lived as a child. As a child he talked to himself, to his body. He was fond of sweets known as jelabi. He used to call the jalebis the viceroy’s carriage.” He said that there is always room for the viceroy’s carriage. Every other food must make place for jalebi. When jelabi comes, all other foods must make way!
It is said that his small room in the Dakshineshwar temple was like a miniature parliament of Religions, where men of all faith congregated, to seek his blessing. Through parables, metaphors and songs, he taught them deep religious truths.
In April 1885, the first symptoms of throat cancer were noticed in him. After a terrible physical ordeal, he attained Maha Samadhi on August 16,1886. He left behind his wife, the Holy Mother Ma Saradamani, and a devoted band of disciples led by Swami Vivekananda, who would carry on his spiritual legacy.
This great spiritual heritage lives on, in the Rama Krishna Math, which is committed to spreading his ideal.
AN INSTRUMENT OF LOVE DIVINE
The story of Ramakrishna is a story of inner life. His adventures were in the inner realm of the spirit. A spiritual genius, Ramakrishna was a union of the mystic, prophet, poet and saint. The central note of Ramakrishna’s music of the flute was this-All religions are true and all worship is an offering to God.
Everyworship, Ramakrishna taught in his own simple, childlike way, was a note in the one sympathy of life. So, when they asked Ramakrishna, “What is the way- the easiest, the simplest, and the most effective, to God?” He answered, “Bhakti Yoga.” And when they asked him further, “What is Bhakti Yoga?” He said, “union with the life divine, union with the mother through love.”
Ramakrishna became an instrument of love divine. Therefore, words of wisdom came out of his lips. And men, who listened to him, marvelled. Ramakrishna’s Lotus Face was a picture of peace and love. His love went out to all. He realised that God moved in every form. “Yes”, said Ramakrishna, “God manifests Himself alike in the sage and the sinner.”
Ramakrishna’s teaching was an emanation of his life. Love all, he taught; pray for love, for pure love. And on even those, when the world discards as sinners, pure love, nothing but love! There is a passage gleaned from saint’s conversation with a disciple, a passage penetered with such pure beauty that I am tempted to quote it at length:
“To my Divine Mother, I prayed only for love pure.
At Her Lotus Feet, I offered a few flowers and I prayed, “Mother! Here is virtue and here is vice: Take them both from me. Grant me only love, pure love for thee!
Mother! Here is knowledge and here is ignorance: Take them both from me. Grant me only love, pure love for thee!
Mother! Here is purity and here is impurity: Take them both from me. Grant me only love, pure love for thee!”
This God-intoxicated man was destined to thrill the hearts of men and women in many parts of East and West.
Ramakrishna saw one light in all religions. Therefore, he vowed in reverence to all prophets and saints. Therefore, were dear to him all religions, none was an exclusive revelation of Truth, none was the only path to God, each was but a few rays of the divine light. Therefore, he stressed that all religions should live in harmony, one with the others; and let all nations live in peace, one with the others: Each is a flower in the garden of God; each is a note in the one music, the one sympathy of the spirit.
HE WAS CALLED PARMAHANSA
Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a lover silence. He lived far away from the fever of life. Rightly has he been called “Paramhansa.” This word means, literally, “the highest swan,” “the swan supreme.” The hansa, the swan, separates milk from water and drinks in milk only. In the world around us “milk” is mixed with “water”. Milk is the Purusha. Amritam is the word used with regard to the Purusha, the Supreme, in some of the ancient books. Milk is the Divine Spirit: and water is maya. Sri Ramakrishna separated milk from water. He drank in God daily!
He used to say, “Unalloyed love of God is the essential thing. All else is unreal. I have now come to stage of realisation in which I see that God is walking in every human form and manifesting Himself alike through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. Therefore, when I meet, different people I say to myself, “God in the form of saint. God in the form of sinner, God in the form of the righteous, God in the form of unrighteous.”
Sri Ramakrishna developed through the power of induction and sympathy a wondrous vision of the soul. He grew in understanding and sympathy until he saw, as theologians and thinkers have not seen, the essence of the great religions of the world. That is why he is called Paramhansa. Wonderful was his love for Sri Krishna. But Ramakrishna’s love went out, also, to Sri Isa. He adored Jesus at Dakshineswar and burnt incense at the picture of Jesus kept before him. He spoke of Jesus as the “embodiment of love” and again, as the “Master Yogi in union with the eternal!”
Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa had love for Muhammad, too. There were days when he recited Namag and Verses from the Quran. Ramakrishna served all religions and prophets. His heart was wide as the sea-wider. It embraced in love and reverence the great ones of humanity. We can give but a partial picture of this great soul. His “sayings” are so wonderful. They enshrine his message-for me, for you, his message for India, his message for the modern world.
“My child! I shall not go. I shall stay here with the poor. I cannot bear to see my children being starved, ill-fed, ill-clothed”
Religion is life, said Ramakrishna. And the secret of life is love: the more you love others, The nearer you are to God. Why seek Him in buildings ? See Him, touch Him, in Man! Different faiths are but different paths to reach the Supreme. Only be sincere!