Courtsey: Vedanta Society
Ramakrishna Paramhansa
Ramkrishna Paramhansa was born in a poor brahmin family in Bengal in 1836. His father Kshudhiram and mother Chandra Devi were both pious souls. While on a pilgrimage to Gaya, his father had a strange dream wherein a radiant celestial being appeared and agreed to be born as his child.
In due course, the child was born and was named Gadadhar by his parents. Immediately after his birth, he exhibited behavioral symptoms that marked him out as spiritually precocious. Astrologers who consulted their almanacs predicted greatness for the child. However, the child's father died when he was barely seven years old. His elder brother Ramkumar had to substitute as the father figure for him in his youth.
At the age of seventeen, his elder brother Ramkumar took him to Kolkata where he was running a pathshala (small school) for young children. His elder brother tried to educate him but he flatly refused to have anything to do with formal education that would not lead him closer towards God. Around the same time, an affluent woman called Rani Rashmoni built a magnificent temple dedicated to the goddess Kali at Dakshineshwara in Kolkata. Ramkumar was appointed as the head-priest of the temple while Gadadhar was made his apprentice. It was during this time that Ramakrishna had a vision of the Divine Mother. One day when his pain of the separation from Divine Mother became unbearable for him, he lifted a sword kept in temple and decided to give away his life in her feet. He was so intoxicated in divine love that he found his life worthless his mother. Suddenly Ma Kali appeared in front of him and took the sword away from him. From that day, his life changed forever. From that day, he used to have constant vision of Ma Kali. His spiritual ecstasy became a subject of debate and discussion throughout the intellectual circles of Kolkata. Elite intellectuals of Bengal like founder of Brahmo Samaj Keshav Chandra Sen, eminent educationist and social reformist Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, started coming to the humble priest of Dakshineshwar Kali Temple. Many of his later disciples such as Vivekananda and Brahmananda also first began visiting him out of curiosity more than anything else and dedicated their whole lives when acquainted with his divine soul.
When humanity is being crucified on the name of religion and god, teachings of Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa show us the spiritual path of love and tolerance. He was a devotee of Divine Mother Kali, but he himself experienced not only other paths of sadhna within Hinduism, but Islam and Christianity also. During his sadhna period, myriad saints and holy men into other spiritual traditions also initiated Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Although, a Bhaktimargi (path of devotion and surrender), he successfully practiced Vedanta - a doctrine that believed in a formless God devoid of all physical attributes - under the guidance of Sri Totapuri and Tantra, under Bhairvi. He even realized God through the dedicated practice of Islam and Christianity before coming to the conclusion that all religions lead one towards the same goal. This makes him probably the greatest saint of the modern era.
His union with Divinity was so profound and strong that he used to see the form of Divine mother in every creature of this world. He started experiencing that everything in this world is manifestation of god. Towards the end of his human life when he was suffering from throat cancer and it was not possible anymore for him to swallow anything, his disciples requested him to ask Ma Kali to cure him. Nevertheless, his answer was negative. He said that I am eating through your mouths.
Sri Ramkrishna never had formal education, but whatever he said was full of ancient wisdom, because his words were manifestation of his own spiritual experiences. His disciples were highly educated. Thakur left his body on 16 August 1886. Swami Vivekananda, who is one of his most famous disciples, his successor and great scholar, founded Ramkrishna Mission to spread his teachings and beliefs.