GREAT INDIAN PERSONALITIES : Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa
Sri Ramkrishna was born on 17.02.1836 in Kamarpukur, Hoogli of Khudiram Chattopadhay and Chandramoni Devi. He was the 4th child of his parents, after Ramkumar, Katyayani, and Rameswar and a sister, Sarbamangala. Nicknamed as Gadadhar he was a very reckless but god fearing boy since childhood, and was deeply devoted to serve the mother goddess Kali from a young age.
He was inspired by the leelas of Lord Krishna and tried to imitate his feats. As a child he was matured for his age and earned the love of all. He had an unusual memory interested in Hindu mythology.
Once while playing the part of Shiva in the plays performed during Shivaratri, he attained Vhava Samadhi. His elder brother Ramkumar took him to Dakhineswar to assist him in his works as a priest in the temple. In 1855 Rani Rashmoni of Janbajar offered him the job of the priest of the Goddess Kali at Dakkhineshwar Temple. Onlookers would crowd to see Ramkrishna performing puja as they wanted to see the love and devotion with which it was performed. At the age of 23, May 1859, he married Saradamoni of Jairambati, whom he thought would be his ideal life companion.
Soon after, the urge of finding the truth of life made him take sannyas under the sage Totapuri who gave him the sobriquet, Paramhansa. His quest for truth continued with Bhairavi Ma and sages in other religion. Though he attained Bhava Samadhi very often, he was inclined to know the truth about human existence. He started Adyitya Sadhana and realised god exist in every form of life. In Jan 17, 1868, he stared for a Tirthayatra along with Mathur Babu and his nephew Hridoy. He visited places like Deoghar, Varanasi and Vrindavan.
He even worshipped Saradamoni in the same way he worshipped the mother goddess which was known as Shorshi puja.. He preached universal brotherhood, and soon stalwarts like Kesab Sen, Shibnath Sastri, Girish Ghosh and Narendranath Datta (later Swami Vivekananda) became his disciples.
He developed a strange theological relation with Narendranath and soon moulded him in his own way. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see a glimpse of the holy spirit. He taught Naren the truth of life by letting him see a glimpse of the holy spirit. It was Vivekananda in later days, who held high the teachings of Sri Ramakishna to the world by forming the Belur Math. In Jan 1st, 1886 in Kashipur Garden an ailing Ramkrishna touched some of his disciples. Those who were touched felt an unearthly feeling never felt before. While some went speechless for a short while, others moved into a state of Samadhi. This incident is remembered by his disciples as Thakur taking the form of a Kalpataru. The great preacher passed away in 16th August, 1886.
