Shree Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886):-
Shree Ramakrishna, the sun among the stars of prophets who himself forecast in his life time that he would be worshipped as God at home to home in future took birth on 17th February 1836 at the village Kamarpukur about sixty miles away from Kolkata, the then Capital of India. The father Kshudiram Chattopadhyay and mother Chandramoni Devi were blessed obtaining him as their son. Shree Ramakrishna had two brothers both were elder to him and two sisters one elder and other younger. His name was Gadadhar Chattopadhyay in his childhood as his father got a divine vision at Gaya from Lord Bishnu named as Gadadhar that the Lord Himself would take birth as his child. Both the pious parents got plenty of divine visions before and after the divine birth of Gadadhar like other incarnations of God.
Due to Shree Ramakrishna’s immense love to all and simplicity , all irrespective of men, women, young, old, caste and creed had great reverence and love upon him not only in his native village but at all other places where ever he lived also. From his very childhood he used to love the God and was very much eager to live with Him.
He was merged into trance several times even in his early age during his staying at Kamarpukur up to the age seventeen years. His deep adherence to truth over the whole life had been found in his very early age at the time of ritual of investing him with the sacred thread. Refusing all the instructions and requests of the elders he was very much rigid to take first alms from a lower caste lady as he was promised to her for that and breaking of promise was falling from truth which was against the discipline of a Brahmin. At last his rigidity for truth won. At the age of his seven years, a great change came to their poor family due to his father’s death. His eldest brother Ramkumar went to Kolkata with the hope to solve their financially wretched condition.
At the age of his seventeen years Gadadhar had to go Kolkata to assist his eldest brother. His keen intelligent and hankering for ultimate truth induced him to refuse to take any academic education which was only for worldly prosperity, he used to tell, “I want such an education which can bring a real success to a human being”. Following his eldest brother he gradually took over the work of the priest of Dakshineswar Kali Temple established by Rani Rashmoni, a lower caste rich pious lady. There he completely merged himself to get vision of the Divine Universal Mother or the Ultimate Truth. His keen urge for the Mother’s vision made him outwardly mad; he fully forgot his worldly necessity, forgot his body.Despite that when he did not get any vision of Mother, he was about to destroy his body and suddenly got the vision of Divine-Mother. Gradually She became to his very near and dear like a worldly mother to her child. After that to fulfill the Cosmic-Will he had to go through all the leading spiritual disciplines of the world and he realized the ultimate truth through every discipline. From his own experience he took decision “AS many tenets, so many ways to salvation”. When his wife Shree Saradamoni Devi came to him at Dakshineswar first time then she was at the age of eighteen and she lived with him in the same room. But Shree Ramakrishna was so much merged into divine thinking, mental passion never came to him and he had always seen his Divine-Mother within her.
He worshiped her as Divine-Mother ritualistically which is known as Sodashi-Puja. Shree Ramakrishna tried to remove all the inconveniences of her to his best and he taught her affectionately all the tit-bits for worldly and spiritual life as a teacher do to his disciple.
Gradually Shree Ramakrishna’s intimate followers began to come round him and the group headed by Narendranath afterwards Swami Vivekananda became great stars in the spiritual world under his loving guidance and he established an order known as Ramakrishna-Order through which the common people of the world be blessed with his life and teachings for the coming thousands of years. Fulfilling his prophetic mission Shree Ramakrishna left his mortal body on 16th August 1886.
Few teachings of Shree Ramakrishna are as follows:-
As many faith so many path.
The aim of human being is to realize God.
If it be possible to worship God in an earthen image then why it would not be possible in a living human being?
When flower blooms, bees come of their own accord.
Many are the names of God and infinite the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him through that you will realize Him.
The magnetic needle always point to the north, and hence it is that the sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.
God cannot be realized if there is the slightest attachment to the things of the world. A thread cannot pass through the eye of the needle if the tiniest fiber sticks out.
One cannot realize God without sincerity and simplicity. God is far, far away from the crooked heart.
Knowledge leads to unity; ignorance to diversity.
If you must be mad, why should you be mad for the things of the world? If you must be mad, be mad for God alone.
All want to be teachers. But who cares to be a disciple?
Remain always strong and steadfast in thy own faith, but eschew all bigotry and intolerance.