Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Ramakrishna Paramahansa was an Indian Hindu saint who was fond of serving living beings and a devotee of goddess Kali. He was also devoted to Tantra, Bhakti and Advaita Vedanta. He believed in simple living. He experienced spirituality from a young age. Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s birthday was 18th February 1836. He was born in Kamarpukur village, Hoogly district, Bengal Presidency. His family was very poor and orthodox. His father’s name was Khudiram Chattopadhyay and his mother’s name was  Chandramani Devi. His family member were devotees of Lord Rama so they gave him a name that started with Rama.  Gadadhar was his childhood name. Gadadhar was loved by all the villagers. He was married to Saradamoni Devi (later known as Sarada Devi). Ramakrishna became a very influential figure in the life of Sarada Devi. Later she became a follower of his teachings. Some people believe that he was a modern-day incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

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Facts About Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s life was full of knowledge and inspiration for his followers. Some of the facts about Ramakrishna Paramahansa are given below.

• Life

Ramakrishna Paramahansa attended traditional schooling till the age of twelve after that he did not attend school.  He was interested in Sanskrit and Mathematics in school. Kamarpukur village was a transit point. It was a well-established pilgrimage route to Puri where he got into contact with several holy men. He was fond of serving religious monks and listening to their discourses. He soon became well versed in Ramayana, Purana, Mahabharata and Vedas.

• Career

Dakshineshawar Temple was developed under the rule of the Queen of Janbazar in Kolkata, Rani Rashmoni. Ramakrishna became a priest at Dakshineswar Kali Temple.

• Guru

Ramakrishna has many Gurus. But two of them are mainly called Totapuri and Bhairavi Brahmani. Ramakrishna used to wander in his village where he came in contact with a wandering monk known as Totapuri who gave him initial knowledge in the Advaita Vedanta. According to people, after getting in contact with Totapuri RamakrishnaIt remains in the state of meditation for six months.

• The Revolutionary Influence

The teachings of Ramakrishna made a revolutionary impact on humanity. He used to believe that every man and woman of this universe is the sacred creation of God. He never claimed that anyone to be greater. He said that humans can achieve god not only by doing meditation but also good work for mankind. He taught us to be kind to every creature of the universe because God resides in his creations. These teachings and principles influenced everybody deeply. It becomes a revolutionary upliftment of Hinduism.  Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa explained complex mythological stories in an easy way. He respected all other religions and used to say that the ultimate goal of all religions is to achieve God in the end.

• Followers

People got influenced by his teaching and became followers of Ramakrishna Paramhansa. His followers are famous personalities such as Zamindar Rakhal Chandra Ghosh, theatre director, and playwright Girish Ghosh, Swami Vivekananda, etc. The sixteen direct disciples of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhansa continued the Ramakrishna Order. Among all followers of Ramakrishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda played an important role in promoting the teaching of his Guru not only in India but also in other parts of the world.

• Ramakrishna Mission

Swami Vivekananda is a famous disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He founded the Ramakrishna Mission. He was very much influenced by the teachings of his Guru Ramakrishna Paramhansa so he wanted to promote the teachings of his Guru for the betterment of mankind. The headquarters of this mission is at the Ramakrishna Ashram of Belur. The main aim of the Ramakrishna Mission is to help people in attaining salvation.

• Book

He never wrote any books and never delivered any public lectures. He used to deliver his thoughts and teachings in simple language to the people. His conversations and quotes which he used to tell his followers were noted down by a follower Mahendranath Gupta who published them in the form of a book named Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita in the Bengali language. The English version of this book was released in 1942 called The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The other books based on his teachings are Words of the Master, Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna, and the face of silence, etc.

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• Death

Ramakrishna Paramahansa died on 16 August 1886 because of throat cancer. Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s death place is Cossipore, Kolkata. His young disciples served him day and night to cure him which became the origin of the future monastic brotherhood known as Ramakrishna Math.  

Teachings of Ramakrishna Paramahansa

Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s teachings are collected in the form of books by his followers. The teachings of Ramakrishna Paramhansa are given below.

• Ramakrishna said that there is only one God toward whom everyone is traveling. The paths are different to reach God. The realization of God is the supreme goal of humans.

• He considers that all living beings are divine. We should treat everyone at the same level because God is present in all men and women.

• He believes in the equality of every creation of God. For him, men and women were equal, no one is greater.

• Ramakrishna taught that Kamini-Kanchan is an obstacle to the path of attaining the realization of God. Kamini-Kanchan literally translates to "woman and gold." Here a woman is related to lust and Gold is related to greed. He said that greed and lust are the main obstacles in the path of attaining salvation.

• He respected all religions' thoughts and beliefs. He admitted that he had practiced all the religions for some time to know about the teachings of each religion in detail. He believes in the concept of one God and that all religions have a different path to attain salvation.

• The main aim of each human being’s life is to be with God.

• He was a devotee of Goddess Kali.

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Ramakrishna Paramahansa Famous Quotations

Ramakrishna Paramhansa gave very famous quotes which are still applicable to a decent human life. Some popular quotes of Ramakrishna Paramhansa are given below.

• "Women are the veritable images of Shakti."

• "Knowledge leads to unity, but Ignorance to diversity."

• "Lovers of God do not belong to any caste."

• "As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone."

• "It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated."

Did You Know?

• The Advaitavadi ascetic Totapuri gave Ramakrishna the title of Paramhansa whose literal meaning is a divine swan. The swan has the ability to extract milk from the mixture of water and milk.

• Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa even dressed as a woman in order to eradicate lust from his mind.