Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Biography

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was a great saint and spiritual leader of Bengal during 19^th century. His chief disciple was the great Swami Vivekananda and taking his thoughts as principle ideas, Swami Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission. Ramakrishna was a great figure in the Bengali Renaissance and Hindu renaissance during the 19th century. He is often believed to be the incarnation of God by his disciples.

Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. He was born on 18 February 1836 as Gadadhar Chattopadhyay in Kamarpukur of Bengal, British India. He was appointed as a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, dedicated to the goddess Kali in the year 1855. His first spiritual guru was Bhairavi Brahmani. He learnt Advaita Vedantin and has experienced Nirvikalpa Samadhi under his guru. He practised in Islam and Christianity as well, as he strongly believed that all religions lead to the same God.

His spiritual thoughts prompted his parents to get him married so that he will be deviated from religious thoughts. Ramakrishna himself mentioned that they could find the bride at the house of Ramchandra Mukherjee in Jayrambati, three miles to the north-west of Kamarpukur. Her name was Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya and she was 5 years old. Ramakrishna was 23 and the marriage was duly solemnized in 1859. Ramakrishna became a very influential figure in Saradamani Mukhopadhyaya’s life and joined Ramakrishna in Dakshineswar at the age of 18. But Ramakrishna had already embraced the monastic life of a saint. Ramakrishna regarded Sarada as the Divine Mother in person, addressing her as the Holy Mother and his disciples too called her the same. She was none other than Sarada Devi. Sarada Devi outlived Ramakrishna by 34 years and played an important role in the nascent religious movement.

After marriage, he returned to his priest job and he continued his sadhana under teachers of Tantra, Vedanta and Vaishnava. Most of Ramakrishna's prominent disciples came in between 1879–1885 and they were fascinated by his teachings. Among all his disciples, Swami Vivekananda’s name comes first. It’s believed that Ramakrishna transferred his spiritual powers to Vivekananda before his death and reassured Vivekananda of his avatar status. He died on 16 August 1886 due to throat cancer at a comparatively young age of 50. Yet his spiritual findings and lessons have always empowered cultural India and its people thereafter.  He is always one of the greatest spiritual leaders produced by Mother India.    

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Updated: October 17, 2013