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A Short Life of Sri Ramakrishna PDF
A Short Life of Sri Ramakrishna PDF
OF
SRI RAMAKRISHNA
SWAMI TEJASANANDA
(Publication Department)
5 Dehi Entally Road
Calcutta 700 014
Published by
Swami Mumukshananda
President, Advaita Ashrama
Mayavati, Pithoragarh, Himalayas
from its Publication Department, Calcutta
ISBN 81-7505-072-1
Printed in India at
Gipidi Box Co.
3B Chatu Babu Lane
Calcutta 700 014
PREFACE
Chapter Page
I INTRODUCTORY 7
II PARENTAGE 9
III BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 14
IV IN THE TEMPLE-GARDEN OF
DAKSHINESWAR 23
V THE DIVINE MOTHER 28
VI GOD-INTOXICATION 35
VII BHAIRAVI BRAHMANI AND A
VAISHNAVA SAINT 46
VIII ONE WITH THE ABSOLUTE 54
IX TRAVELLING INTO OTHER FAITHS 62
X FINDING DIVINITY IN THE WIFE 69
XI PILGRIMAGE 74
XII CONTACT WITH SOME NOTABLES 79
XIII THE COMING OF THE DEVOTEES 85
XIV MONASTIC DISCIPLES 91
XV WOMEN DEVOTEES 97
XVI LAST DAYS 100
XVII END OF THE DRAMA 107
XVIII AFTER THE PASSING 117
SOME SAYINGS 122
I
INTRODUCTORY
1
Meaning a cluster of the five sacred trees, namely,
Ashwattha, Bel, Amalaka, Ashoka, and Vata or Banyan.
Such a place is considered very holy and helpful to
meditation.
VI
GOD-INTOXICATION
cure.
Referring to this period of his life Sri Rama-
krishna often said afterwards: ‘No sooner was one
state transcended than another took its place. Before
that whirlwind, the sacred thread was blown away.
Not only that, even the wearing cloth hardly
remained.…The idea of caste lost all meaning for
me. A low-caste man sent me a curry cooked by his
wife which I ate with relish. In the Panchavati I
would sit in deep meditation with my body
perfectly still—losing all consciousness of the
outside world. At that time, for want of proper care,
my hair was matted. Birds would perch on my head
and peck the grains of rice left there during the
time of worship. Often snakes would crawl over
my motionless body, and neither I nor the snake
knew it. Oh, what visions flitted past my eyes, day
and night! As I sat down to meditate, I would find
a Sannyasin emerging from my body with a trident
in hand and directing me to concentrate my mind
on God, leaving aside all other thoughts. He
threatened to plunge his weapon into my body if I
did not do so.…An ordinary man could not have
borne a fraction of such tremendous fervour: his
body would have been shattered by a quarter of
that emotion. I could forget my indescribable pangs
only by seeing the Mother in some form or other
for the greater part of the day and night. Otherwise
this body could not have survived. For six years
SRI RAMAKRISHNA 43
1
Sri Ramakrishna used to refer to Totapuri as Nyangta,
i.e. the naked one.
SRI RAMAKRISHNA 59
the one God. Diverse are the ways that lead to the
temple of Mother Kali at Kalighat in Calcutta.
Similarly, various are the paths that take men to the
house of the Lord. Every religion is nothing but
one of such paths.
‘The mind and intellect can comprehend and
put in terms of language the range of thought up to
the Vishishtadvaita and no further. In its perfection,
the Absolute and Manifestation are seen to be
equally real. The Lord’s name, His abode, and He
himself are found to be composed of the one
spiritual substance. Everything is spiritual, the
variance being only in form.
‘The Advaita is the last word in realization. It
is something to be felt in Samadhi, for it transcends
mind and speech.’
Sri Ramakrishna now became convinced that
his extraordinary spiritual struggles and
realizations were not for himself, but to usher in a
new era of spiritual unfoldment and to show
mankind how to overcome the obstacles on the way
to God-realization. He looked upon himself as an
Incarnation of God, though he disliked any
reference to it.
X
FINDING DIVINITY IN THE WIFE