BEACON LIGHTS
Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886)
Where Are Light And Hope?
Where Are Assurance And Solace
In This All-Engulfing Darkness?
Come, O, Ramakrishna, Come.
You Have To Come To Us Here Where We Are Weltering.
Only Then Shall We Comprehend That
You Are The Unfailing Polestar In The Long Voyage Of Our Life.
ॐ स्थापकाय च धर्मस्य सर्वधर्म-स्वरूपिणे ।
अवतार-वरिष्ठाय रामकृष्णाय ते नम: ॥
Om Sthaapakaaya Ca Dharmasya Sarvadharma Svaroopine |
Avataara Varishthaaya Raamakrishnaaya Te Namah ||
Oh Ramakrishna,
You Are The Awakener Of Spirituality And
The Embodiment Of All Spiritual Traditions.
To You, The Noblest Manifestation Of The Divine,
I Offer My Salutation.
—Swami Vivekananda
Hindu Renaissance
Since Ancient Times, Hinduism Has Been Able To Maintain Its Integrity In Spite Of The Onslaught Of Foreign Invasions And Subjugations, As Well As Innumerable Internal Dissensions. It Is The Spiritual Vitality, The Inherent Power, Embedded Within The Hindu Religious Tradition That Manifests When Any External Opposition Challenges Its Authenticity. Because Of That Tremendous Staying Power, Hinduism Has The Capacity To Rejuvenate Itself. It Produces Saints And Sages Who With Their Extraordinary Spiritual Power Neutralize The Detrimental Effects Of Exotic Cultures Or Religions. Thus, It Has Been Observed That During Critical Unstable Periods In The History Of Hindu Religion, Great Personages Were Born Such As Krishna, Sankara, Sri Ramakrishna, And Great Devotee Saints Like Appar, Nammalwar, Andal, Akka Mahadevi, Jnaneswar, And Chaitanya Who Facilitated This Self-Rejuvenation Process.
In The Beginning Of The 19th Century, India Had To Face A Very Serious Complicated Challenge. Western Culture With Its Glorification Of Reason And Science, As Well As Its Emphasis On Secular Values Such As Individual Freedom, Social Equality, And Materialism Attracted The Intelligentsia Of Our Country. It Was Then That The Intrinsic Self-Rejuvenating Power Of Hinduism Burst Forth As The Grand Hindu Renaissance. Sri Ramakrishna Is In The Forefront Among Those Who Ushered In The Hindu Renaissance In India.
A Profile
Sri Ramakrishna Was Born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay On February 18 In The Village Of Kamarpukur About Sixty Miles Northwest Of Kolkata. His Parents Were Poor But Very Pious And Virtuous. From His Childhood His Energetic, Imaginative, And Loving Nature Endeared Him To All. His Adherence To Truth Was Extraordinary.
Though Uninterested In Academic Study, Gadadhar Educated Himself Through His Own Observations Of Village Life Along With His Natural Devotion To God And Association With Holy Men. With His Extraordinary Intelligence And Retentive Memory, He Could Remember Anything Having Heard It Only Once. Thus, He Could Repeat Religious Stories From The Puranas And Other Texts Exactly As He Had Heard Them.
As He Grew Up, His Innate Spirituality Began To Awaken Even More. Recognizing His Devotional Nature, Ramkumar, His Elder Brother, Persuaded Him To Become The Priest In Divine Mother Kali’s Temple At Dakshineswar On The Banks Of The Ganga. Through His Earnest Desire To Have The Vision Of Mother Kali, Gadadhar Threw Himself Heart And Soul Into Her Worship. The Intensity With Which He Performed The Worship Culminated In His First Vision Of Her.
It Was Here In Dakshineswar That Gadadhar Now Sri Ramakrishna Spent Over Thirty Years Of His Life. Initially Through The Worship Of Mother Kali, He Practised Intense Spiritual Disciplines In Order To Have Her Continual Vision. He Experienced Not Only The Personal Aspect Of God As Mother Kali, But Also The Formless Impersonal Aspect Of The Divine. Under The Guidance Of Different Teachers Of Various Sects In Hinduism Such As Vaishnava, Sakta, And Saiva, As Well As From The Traditions Of Christianity And Islam, He Underwent Their Prescribed Disciplines And Experienced God Through All Of Them.
In 1868, Mathur Babu, The Caretaker Of The Kali Temple, Took Sri Ramakrishna On A Pilgrimage To Various Important Holy Places Such As Varanasi, Prayag, And Vrindavan. A Significant Incident Took Place On The Way To Varanasi. While Passing Through The Village Of Deoghar, Sri Ramakrishna Was Greatly Distressed To See The Terrible Condition Of The People There. Filled With Empathy, He Asked Mathur To Give Them Food And Clothes. Mathur Hesitated Saying That The Pilgrimage Was Going To Cost A Lot Of Money. If He Gave Food And Clothing To So Many, They Might Run Short Of Funds. Sri Ramakrishna Was Adamant. With Tears In His Eyes, He Refused To Continue On The Journey Unless His Request Was Granted. Mathur Had No Choice But To Fulfil Sri Ramakrishna’s Wish.
This Incident Would Later Prove Prophetic. Although Hinduism Always Had The Ideal Of Service To Man As Worship Of God As Stated In The Scriptures, Sri Ramakrishna Reinstated This Ancient Tradition Of Service To Humanity In A Very Practical Way. And It Was His Chief Disciple, Narendra, The Future Swami Vivekananda Who Later Preached This Ideal That Service To Man Is Service To God.
Sri Ramakrishna Was Married To Sarada Devi Or The Holy Mother, When She Was Just A Five-Year-Old Child. Later, She Joined Him In Dakshineswar. Their Relationship Was Unusual As Both Considered The Other As The Divine Mother Kali. Sri Ramakrishna Worshipped Sarada Devi As The Divine Mother While Performing Kali Puja, Thus Awakening The Divine Power In Her. Sarada Devi Was His Spiritual Counterpart And Later His Helpmate In His Spiritual Ministry.
Gradually, Spiritual Seekers In Calcutta And The Surrounding Places Became Attracted To Sri Ramakrishna. Later, Some Of The Youngsters Banded Together Forming The Monastic Brotherhood That Played An Integral Role In The Spreading Of His Universal Ideas. While Many Others Were Householders, Who Under His Loving Guidance Lived An Ideal Life Following The Vedic Ideal Of The Grihastha Dharma (Family Life). Many Of His Women Disciples Lived Exalted Spiritual Lives By Simply Doing Their Ordinary Household Duties, Just As Sarada Devi Did. Sri Ramakrishna Came For Everyone From All Walks Of Life, Whether High Or Low, Saint Or Sinner, Monastic Or Householder.
Further, Sri Ramakrishna’s Life Exemplified To The World That The Innate Nature Of All Beings Is Spiritual And That The Purpose Of Human Existence Is Experiencing One’s Real Divine Nature. Moreover, All Paths Of Every Religion Lead To The Same Universal Goal. He Demonstrated The Harmony Of All Religions By Revealing The Underlying Unity Amidst Diversity. He Clearly Showed In His Own Life That Religion Is One. He Verified This Through His Own Experience As Expressed In His Teachings: “As Many Faiths, So Many Paths,” And “Truth Is One, Sages Call It By Various Names.” According To Sri Ramakrishna, God Can Be Seen By Those Who Sincerely Yearn For Him; One Can Commune With Him Thus Making Life Blessed And Fulfilled. This Was The Message Sri Ramakrishna Taught, While Living Quietly In The Tranquil Surroundings Of The Dakshineswar Temple Garden.
He Passed Away On August 16 At The Age Of Fifty. He Left Behind His Illustrious Disciple Swami Vivekananda To Unite The Other Young Men Together For The Propagation Of His Life-Giving Message Of The Divinity Of Humankind To Spiritual Seekers Throughout The World.
For Posterity
- One Of The Salient Factors That Contribute To The Self-Rejuvenation Of Hinduism Is Its Longstanding Parampara Or Tradition. Sri Ramakrishna Reinvigorated Such A Parampara That Originated With The Vedic Rishis And Was Passed Down Through The Great Teacher Adi Sankara. During The Last Momentous Days, Sri Ramakrishna Sowed The Seed Of The Ramakrishna Math And Mission That Has Now Become A Worldwide Organisation With The Motto, “For One’s Own Salvation And For The Benefit Of Humanity.” From This Monastic Organisation The Parampara Is Continuing Unabated With Renewed Vitality And Power.
- Sri Ramakrishna’s Conversations With Devotees And Disciples Have Been Recorded In The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna. It Has Become A Popular Widely-Known Modern Scripture That Has Been Translated Into Most Of The Major Languages Of India, As Well As Of The World.
Selected Teachings
- As A Boy Holding On To A Post Or Pillar Swings Around It With Full Speed Without Fear Of Falling; So Perform Your Worldly Duties Holding Firmly Onto God, And You Will Be Free From Danger.
- A Person Living In Society, Especially As A Householder, Should Make A Show Of Resisting Evil For The Purpose Of Self-Defence, But At The Same Time Should Try To Avoid Retaliating With Evil.
- The Darkness Of Centuries Is Dispersed As Soon As A Single Light Is Brought Into A Room. The Accumulated Ignorance And Misdoings Of Innumerable Births Vanish Through A Single Glance From The Gracious Eyes Of God.
- Pray To Him In Any Way You Want. He Is Sure To Hear You, For He Hears Even The Footfall Of An Ant.
- One Should Constantly Repeat The Name Of God. The Name Of God Is Highly Effective In The Kaliyuga.
For Further Reading
- Swami Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna:Life And Teachings, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
- Swami Saradananda, Sri Ramakrishna: The Great Master, Tr., Swami Jagadananda, Two Volumes, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
- Mahendranath Gupta (M.), The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna, Tr., Swami Nikhilananda, Two Volumes, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai.
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