Book Notes : A Short Life of Sri RamaKrishna by Swami Tejasananda

Sri Ramakrishna - short life story 

At every time of spiritual

crisis in Indian national life there has been born a

saint or a prophet who has saved the nation from

the impending danger. Sri Krishna, Buddha,

Shankara, Nanak, Chaitanya - each fulfilled a great

demand of the age in which he was born.

The village of Kamarpukur is situated in the

western extremity of the District of Hooghly, on

the road leading to the holy place of Puri or

Jagannath. The village was highly prosperous and

noted for its manifold arts and crafts.

One day, while returning from a neighboring

village, Khudiram strangely came into possession

of the emblem of his tutelary deity Raghuvir in a

paddy field. He took it home and began to worship

it as his own Ishta.

The effulgent One beckoned to Khudiram, who, coming near,

prostrated himself before Him and heard the

luminous Person saying, ëI am well pleased at your

sincere devotion. I shall be born in your cottage

and accept you as my father. Khudiram awoke with

his heart thrilled with joy. He understood that a

Divine Being would bless his house very soon.

One night, she dreamt that a luminous person exactly like her

husband was lying by her side. Another day, while

standing with Dhani (a village blacksmith woman)

before the Shiva temple adjacent to her house,

Chandra saw a bright beam of divine effulgence

dart from the image of Lord Shiva and enter her.

The blessed hour for which Khudiram and

Chandra were anxiously waiting at last drew near.

In the early hours of the morning of February 18,

1836, Chandra gave birth to a boy whom the world

was to know afterwards by the name of Sri

Ramakrishna. Learned astrologers predicted a great

future for the child.

Since his very birth Gadadhar cast a spell of

fascination not only over his parents and relatives

but also over his neighbors, who could not help

paying visit to Khudiram's house whenever possible just 

to have a look at 'Gadai' he was lovingly called. The years rolled on,

 and Gadadhar was now

five years old. He began to show wonderful

intelligence and memory even at this early age.

At school Gadadhar made fair

progress, but he showed great distaste for

mathematics. He directed all his attention to the

study of the lives and characters of spiritual heroes.

Constant study of those subjects often made him

forgetful of the world and threw him into deep

meditation.

As he grew older, he began to have

trances whenever his religious feelings were

roused. Soon it was found that not only religious

subjects but beautiful scenery or some touching

incident was also sufficient to make him lose

himself.

It presented such a beautiful contrast that my mind wandered

to far-off regions. Lost to outward sense, I fell down,

and the puffed rice was scattered in all directions.

Some people found me in that plight and carried

me home in their arms. That was the first time I

completely lost consciousness in ecstasy.

Once while accompanying a group of elderly ladies of

the village who were going for the worship of a

deity in a neighbouring village, and again, while

playing the role of Shiva in the village dramatic

performance on a Shivaratri nightóthe boy

Gadadhar passed into deep trance, and it was with

great difficulty that he could be brought back to

the plane of normal consciousness.

Gadadhar soon found a new source of

pleasure in the company of wandering monks who

used to stay for a day or two in the rest house built

by the neighboring Laha family. Association with these

itinerant monks and listening to their readings

from the scriptures inclined the naturally emotional

mind of the boy more and more to meditation and

kindled in him the latent spirit of dispassion for all

worldly concerns.

After the investiture

ceremony was over, Gadadhar, in spite of the

repeated objections of other members of the house,

kept his promise and accepted his first alms from

this Shudra woman in contravention of the time

honored custom of his Brahmin family. But the

event, however trifling, is not without significance.

This unyielding love of truth and rising above

social convention at this tender age reflected in no

small measure Gadadharís latent spiritual

potentiality and foresight and disclosed the real

stuff the boy was made of!

The boy, understanding their difficulty

in arriving at the proper solution, made a

suggestion to one of the Pandits and asked whether

such might not be the answer. The solution of

Gadadhar was so appropriate and pertinent to the

point under discussion that the scholars were

amazed at such mental maturity in one so young - at age of nine. 

Gadadharís favourite themes were

the various incidents in the life of Sri Krishna. The

boy, with his fair complexion and flowing hair, a

garland about his neck and a flute to his lips, would

often play the part of Sri Krishna. Overwhelmed

with the emotion associated with these themes, he

would fall into frequent trances. At times the whole

mango-grove would ring with the loud Sankirtanas

which the boys sang in chorus. Thus, deeply

absorbed in these divine sports, Gadadhar lost all

taste for school education and engaged himself

more and more in the study of the epics, Puranas,

and other sacred books, which gave him ample

spiritual stimulus.

But as before, Gadadhar was unmindful of his school studies. He

spent a great portion of his time in worshipping

Raghuvir or in reading passages from the holy

books, and in helping his aged mother in her

domestic duties. As days rolled on, his aversion to

academic education became more pronounced.

And soon the idea dawned on him that he was

destined to fulfil some great mission in life, though

he did not know what. The realization of God was

to him the only purpose worthy of consideration.

'Brother, what shall I do with

a mere bread-winning education?' was the

spirited reply of the boy. 'I would rather acquire

that wisdom which will illumine my heart and

getting which one is satisfied forever.'

After a few days, Gadadhar also began to live with

his brother in the sacred temple-garden of

Dakshineswar(at the temple of Kali on the banks of Ganga, next to Krishna-Radha temple,

in the calm and congenial atmosphere where he felt quite at home and found

greater opportunities to pursue his spiritual practices.

Hriday, He was the nephew of

Gadadhar. His presence at Dakshineswar delighted

Gadadhar's heart beyond measure as he found in

him a trustworthy associate to whom he could open

his heart in moments of trouble and difficulty.

(I liked this narration fully that I pulled the whole story into this note)

Shortly after his appointment in the Kali

temple, an incident occurred which enhanced the

worth of Sri Ramakrishna in the eyes of Rani

Rasmani and Mathur. One day the priest of the

Radha-kanta temple, while taking the image of

Krishna to the retiring room, suddenly slipped, and

one leg of the image was broken. This gave rise to a

great commotion in the temple, and the priest was

summarily dismissed from service for his

carelessness. The Pandits, who were called to advise

the Rani as to what should be done under the

circumstances, unanimously came to the decision

that the image should be thrown into the Ganga

and a new one installed in its place, as it was

contrary to the scriptures to worship the Lord in a

broken image. This decision did not appeal to the

pious Rani, who, at the suggestion of Mathur,

sought the opinion of Sri Ramakrishna on the

matter. After hearing the whole story, he exclaimed

in an exalted mood, Their solution is ridiculous. If

a son-in-law of the Rani fractured his leg, would

she discard him and put another in his stead?

Would she not rather arrange for his treatment?

Why not do the same thing here? Let the image be

repaired and worshipped as before. The Pandits

were puzzled to learn the ruling of the young priest.

It did not satisfy the scholars at first, but they finally

had to accept it. The joy of the Rani knew no

bounds. Sri Ramakrishna, who was an adept in

modelling, undertook to repair the limb at the

request of the Rani and did it so adroitly that even

careful scrutiny did not reveal where the break had

been.

Sri Ramakrishna was now made the priest of

the Radha-kanta temple, and Hriday was

appointed to assist Ramkumar in dressing and

decorating the image of Kali.

His brother's death came to the young priest as a great shock and

a revelation. It occurred at a time when he was fast

realizing the transitoriness of the world, and all his

energies were now given to the search for something

that was real and imperishable. While those about

him were wasting time in all sorts of frivolity, he

was burning day and night with a consuming thirst

for God.

 Her lower right hand She offers boons to Her

devotees; with the upper one is symbolized, ëFear

nothingí. The skulls and the sword represent Her

terrible aspect, and Her right handsóoffering boons

and assuring fearlessnessóthe benignant aspect.

She is both terrible and sweetólike Nature alternately destroying and creating. This is the Deity

whom Sri Ramakrishna worshipped, the Preserver

as well as the Destroyer.

But to him She was ever the

affectionate Mother, the Repository of all

blessedness and power - sweet, tender, and full of

motherly solicitude, the Mother who with loving

care protects Her devotees from harm. To Her he

offered his whole-souled devotion, regarding Her

as the only true guide in darkness and confusion.

He would shed profuse tears like a

child at being denied the vision of the Mother and

would burst out crying, 'O Mother! where art Thou?

Reveal Thyself to me. Ramprasad saw Thee and obtained Thy divine grace. 

Am I a wretch that Thou

dost not come to me? Pleasure, wealth, friends,

enjoyments. I do not want any of these. I only desire

to see Thee, Mother.'

He would sit before the image like a statue. While

meditating in the course of worship, he would put

a flower on his head and sit silent for a couple of

hours, or while offering the food he would gaze at

the Mother as if She were actually partaking of it.

He was ridiculed at first for such strange acts, but

his steady devotion ended by commanding respect

and admiration, though some still regarded him as

unbalanced.

Sri Ramakrishna was perfectly indifferent to what people thought,

and directed all his energies to the realization of

the goal he had set for himself. At last, when he was

at the limit of physical endurance, the veil was

lifted, and he was blessed with the vision of the

Divine Mother. From this time onward his attitude towards

the Mother changed. He became like a child,

confident that his inability to see Her whenever he

wished was because She, in a playful mood was

purposely hiding Herself. His self-surrender was

now complete.

'O Mother,' he would pray day and

night, 'I have taken refuge in Thee; teach me what

to do or say. Thy will is paramount everywhere

and is for the benefit of Thy children. Merge my

ego in Thy will and make me Thy instrument.'

'At night when the room

was lighted, I never saw Her divine form cast any

shadow on the walls, even though I looked closely.

From my own room I could hear Her going to the

upper storey of the temple, with the delight of a

girl, Her anklets jingling. To see if I were not

mistaken, I would follow and find Her standing

with flowing hair on the balcony of the first floor,

looking either at Calcutta or out over the Ganga.' - he used to tell his followers later.

'I noticed that

my uncle, taking flowers and Bel leaves in his hand

would touch his own head, chest, in fact, the whole

body, including the feet, and then offer them at the

feet of Kali. At other times, with eyes and chest

flushed, he would move like a drunkard with

tottering steps from his seat to the throne of the

goddess, touch her chin as a sign of endearment,

and begin to sing, talk, joke, or laugh, or even dance,

taking the image by the hand!! Sometimes he would

approach the throne with a morsel of food in his

hand and putting it to Her lips, entreat Her to

eat. Again, at the time of worship he would become

so deeply absorbed in meditation that there would

be no sign of external consciousness.' 

'Every morning,

as he picked the flowers for the Divine Mother's

garlands, I saw him speaking to somebody, or

loughing, or indulging in merriment! He never

closed his eyes during the night; whenever I awoke

I found him in an exalted mood, talking to some

one, singing, or sitting in deep meditation where

the Panchavati1 is now.'

Mathur tried to persuade

Sri Ramakrishna to keep his feelings within

bounds and to regulate his life in accordance with

fixed standards. As Mathur came in closer touch

with Sri Ramakrishna and saw more of the Master,

he inwardly began to look up to him as a Guru.

He made no distinction between

one form of God and another. The realization of

one aspect of the Reality inspired him to take up

another and to follow it with unflinching devotion

till that aspect of Truth revealed itself. He now felt

a strong urge to realize Sri Rama, who is regarded

as an Incarnation of the Lord Himself. He therefore

took upon himself the task of reproducing as

faithfully as possible the attitude of Hanuman

towards Rama—that of the faithful servant towards

the master.

'I see you were practising Yoga. This opened your

Sushumna canal and a quantity of blood was

rushing to the head. It is excellent that this blood,

instead of reaching the brain, made a passage through

the palate; or you would have entered the Jada

Samadhi (the highest form of concentration mentioned

in the Yoga-Shastra) from which you could

never again have come down to the plane of ordinary

consciousness. It must be that the Divine Mother

has some great mission to be done through you, and

She has saved your body.'

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 not close the eyelids however

much I might try to do so. I had no idea of time nor

of the body. When the mind, at rare intervals, came

down to a lower plane and I had a faint idea of the

body, a shudder of pain would pass through me at

the thought that I was going mad.

Money, he said to himself, can

at best give only a comfortable living and some

facilities for charity that is all. It cannot give

realization of God, which is the only thing worth

having in life. Hence it has no more real value than

this handful of earth.

As soon as the Bhairavi met Sri

Ramakrishna, she burst into tears of joy and

surprise and said in a tender voice, 'My son, you

are here! I have been searching for you so long, and

now I have found you'.

She was a Vaishnava devotee

of a high order. Her intense spiritual practices had

bestowed on her wonderful realizations, which

prompted her to find out a suitable aspirant to

whom she could deliver all her attainments for his

spiritual illumination.

She consoled him again and again: 'Who calls you mad,

my son? This is not insanity. Your state is what is

called Mahabhava (extraordinary state of religious

ecstasy) in the Shastras. Sri Radha experienced this

state and so did Sri Gauranga. All these are recorded

in the texts of the Bhakti (devotion) schools. I shall

show you from books that whoever has sincerely

yearned for God has experienced this state, and

every one doing so must pass through it.'

Every day she saw him go into a

trance as they talked on spiritual matters, and she

observed a strange similarity between the life of Sri

Chaitanya and that of Sri Ramakrishna.