The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 5

Years pass by Gadhadhar grown up  as a school-going child he was sent to Padashala, he has less interest in studies, he has shown greater interest in various games, he is fond of painting dolls, or  play in the bathing Ghat, or taking part in Drama.  Children of his age were afraid to walk alone in the darkness and places he walked fearlessly.  The villagers were mesmerized at the skill of the child.  He was seven years old,  he went for a Durga Puja at the request of his cousin, where he was afflicted with diarrhea,  he kept reciting the name of Lord ‘Raghubir’ and went to Surdham.  After the Upanayan ceremony Gadhadhar had changed completely, he used to dream of his father or saints or holy men.  One day his neighbor Seetharam organized a drama on Lord Shiva, the child who was proposed to play the role of Lord Shiva became unwell, so Gadhadhar was appointed to play the role of Lord Shiva, and he has nothing much do in the drama, he has to keep meditating.  Gadhadhar assumed the role of Shiva and remained in meditation, eventually he attained the transcendental state.  Usually, they were used to conduct recitation of Devi Mahima at home, during those times he used to practice meditation and enter into a transcendental state.  The audiences were shocked to see the state of the child, waters poured on the head of the Gadhadhar, group recitation of Lord Rama were conducted, and finally, he got out from the trance.  After a few years of this incident Ramkumar’s wife gave birth to a child, she immediately passed away after the childbirth as predicted by Ramkumar.  She was considered as Goddess Lakshmi, when she was alive there were no difficulties at home after her death family had to go through extreme financial difficulties.  In the meantime, Khudhiram passed away, after the death of the father, all the responsibilities fallen on Ramkumar.  He was thirty-one year’s elder to Gadhadhar, finally he arrived in Kolkata in search of a job.  In Shyamapukur he opened a Vedapadasala and started teaching children, he finds Gadhadhar who is back in the village is not at all interested in studies; instead, he was giving trouble to the family. He will not listen to Mother, Ramkumar thought if  Gadhadhar goes on like this he would become dull one day.   So he took Gadhadhar with him to Kolkata, and started teaching him in his Vedapadasala. 

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 4

Chandradevi got pregnant with Ramakrishna, during this period of time, she had many unique and divine experiences, sometimes she would envision somebody sitting on the swan, sometimes brilliants rays falling on her from the shrine of Lord Shiva, and she shared all her divine experiences with her husband.  Khudhiram said, “do not get worried about anything, the child who is going to born in our family with the grace of Sri Raghubir will take care of everything.”  It was on 18^th February 1836, a beautiful child was born to Chandradevi.  The astrologer who was preparing horoscope of the child said the child is not an ordinary one, Khudhiram remembered the dream he had in Gaya, and therefore they named the child Gadhadhar Chattopadhyay who was connected with some divine powers while he was in his mother’s womb.  Khudhiram wanted to perform the Annaprashan ceremony/feeding the child with rice for the first time, of the child in a simple manner, he decided to invite neighbors.   On the previous day the Bhramins of the entire village assembled in his house, all wanted to take part in the Annaprashan ceremony of the child.  Khudhiram really got anxious, because he was so poor to feed all those Bhramins, he decided all have assembled at home, he should do something to appease them, he went to meet the Zamindar of the village Dharmdas Lahaji, after listening to the words of Khudhiram, he  said ‘ You are worrying unnecessarily, you will not find any difficulty while I am alive, I will do all the arrangements to feed the Bhramins,’ Khudhiram felt uneasy putting all the burden on Lahaji, but Lahaji smiled at him and said to leave in peace.  Khudhiram was not known the fact this drama was arranged by Lahaji himself, by inviting the entire Bhramins to attend for the Annaprashna ceremony.  That day, after breastfeeding the child, Chandradevi put him into a decent spread after that she went to look after the arrangements, after some time she came to check on the child.   She saw a divine personality sleeping on the spread, she shrieked in fear and rushed out of the room, she cried for her husband, they both came to check and saw the child was sleeping peacefully on the spread. She murmured in extreme fear, Khudhiram consoled his wife saying that this child is the blessing of Sri Raghubir, therefore he is showing some divine plays and it is all his pastimes.

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 3

Khudhiram went to Gaya to perform the ancestral rite.  During this period of time Chandradevi had to witness many surprising events took place in her life, she described a marvelous incident to Khudhiram after returning from Gaya, she said that she had a dream in that a deity with brilliant rays found sleeping on her side, she thought it was somebody playing a wicked trick on her.   So she got scared, soon she found there was no one from outside and the door was safely locked from inside.  She described one more incident happened, she was standing close to Shiva shrine, a divine light initiated from the Linga and put  her in a great shock, she fallen unconscious.  In return Khudhiram described the incident took place in Gaya, he came to take rest after finishing rituals of homage to ancestors, he has fallen asleep and had a dream, in that he was standing in a shrine, all the ancestors were standing around him with folded hands, inside the shrine there was a divine personality sitting on the throne said “ Khudhiram, I am highly pleased in your devotion, I will be born as your child and I will accept your services.” After listening to this, he was too excited and stunned, he said “ Bhagavan, kindly do not give me this fortune,  if you take birth in a poverty stricken twice-born person’s house you may have to go through several difficulties in your life, therefore kindly bless  me with your Dharshan.” But the divine personality did not heed to the pleas of Khudhiram, He said “ Do not get scared Khudhiram, whatever you feed I will accept it happily,” Khudhiram had no words to say, he kept silent for a few minutes.  He explained all those with great enthusiasm after that Kdhudiram said to his wife not to tell about this to anyone, whatever happens, will definitely with the grace of Raghubir, now onwards everything going to be fine in the family.  In the home of Khudhiram, Chandradevi and Ramkumar were always surrounded by divine incidents like this.  Supreme Lord had boundless mercy on this family.

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 2

Khudhiram and Chandradevi had three children, elder one Ramkumar, second one Ramakrishna and the third one Karthyayani. Ramkumar took up religious rites as his profession, he had divine powers watching at the face of the patient he could say whether it is curable or not, Ramkumar became famous for his divine qualities.  One day he came to Kolkata for a dip in holy Ganga, while taking bath he noticed that one lady was given holy dip in a Palki/palanquin, Ramkumar could visualize her face, he said it is her final bath in Ganga, tomorrow she will be immersed in Ganga.  There was her husband who was standing behind Ramkumar, he stunned at the predictions of Ramkumar.   He brought Ramkumar to home with all respect, the next day she passed away as predicted by Ramkumar.  Her husband prostrates before Ramkumar and said ‘ I have brought you here after listening to your predictions, kindly forgive me. If you were wrong in your predictions I would have insulted you very badly. ” Later, Ramkumar got married to a pious woman; he predicted that if she gives birth to a child, she would die; therefore this couple had no children for several years.  When Ramkumar was 35, his wife got pregnant, after delivering the baby she passed away as predicted by Ramkumar. 

After Dusshera, there was  Lakshmi puja organized in a home, Ramkumar went to perform Puja in a rich man’s home.  The celebrations went on and it became too dark, Ramkumar did not come back home, his mother was worried; she was waiting for his arrival at the front door.   Soon Chandradevi found somebody is walking towards their home, she ran towards the door thinking that it was her son, it was midnight, she saw a beautiful woman who was attired in magnificent clothe and decorated with various precious ornaments.  Chandradevi affectionately asked her “Daughter, where are you coming from?’ She named her village and introduced her  as Ramani, Chandradevi asked ‘Did you see my son?’ he went to perform Puja in the same village, he did not come back yet.”  Ramani said ‘I am coming from the same house where your son was performing puja. Do not worry; he will be coming back soon.” Chandradevi said ‘Where did you go at this midnight? Stay at my house tonight and you can leave tomorrow early morning.’ Ramani said ‘No, I have to go a long way, I will visit your home one day,” Chandradevi was too anxious about the delay of her son, she was too surprised to see the lady coming alone all the way from that village, how did she know Ramkumar? While watching, Ramani moved towards the neighbor's home and vanished. Chandradevi followed her but she could not find any trace of Ramani, she thought it must be Goddess in the form of a beautiful woman.   Chandradevi came back home and narrated everything to her husband, Khudhiram said today  Sri Mahalakshmi gave her Dharshan to you, therefore you are truly blessed and fortunate.  After sometime Ramkumar arrived home and he too heard the news from his mother, he was shocked to hear all those.

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – I

There was a lineage of Chattopadhyay lived in a village called ‘Dheri’ in Bengal,   they were ardent devotees of Lord Sri Ramachandra and Devi Sitala.   In the year 1775 Khudhiram Chattopadhyay was born in this lineage of pious Bhramin family, he was simple and kind-hearted; he worshiped Raghubira and Sitaladevi with great devotion on a regular basis.   He was elder son in the family, the morning he collects flowers for the worship of Lord Ramachandra, he was always followed by Sitaladevi as a beautiful little girl blissfully moving around the garden, and sometimes she would help Khudhiram with holding branches of the flowering plant.  Khudhiram married to a simple pious woman Chandramani/Chandradevi, she had witnessed deities talking with Khudhiram.  The unstained heart is the place of abode of deities. Once Khudiram was approached by the Zamindar Ramanand Rai of the village, he tried to persuade Khudhiram to stand as a false witness for his personal benefit, Khudiram was scared of court and related matters that too present as a false witness, Khudhiram could not even think of that sin.   Ramanand Rai got infuriated, eventually, he trapped Khudhiram into several court-related matters, Khudiram had to sell his home and properties which was inherited from the family.  There is a place where three villages located, and they are Sripur, Kamarpukur, and Mukundpur.   Shukhlal Goswami who was a close friend of Khudhiram lived in this famous village of  Kamarpukur, seeing his friend in a wretched state, Goswami gave shelter to Khudhiram, he also gave half of his home to stay and half of his agricultural land for farming for free.   No one had an idea that one-day Kamarpukur becomes one of the Dharmic centers in the future and Goswamiji will be remembered for his generosity and take an honorable place in history.  When divine personify on Earth, Supreme Lord must have already chosen his family and parents, eventually, there will be a unique atmosphere in the family, various kind of divine experiences and incidents will take place, which is rare in the ordinary families.  Once, Khudiram went to another village for a personal reason, while returning after the work, he felt so tired and took rest under the shelter of a tree, and he was too tired and fell asleep.  He had a dream in that Lord Ramachandra was asking him to take his idol that was kept idle from the nearby agricultural land, and instructed him to take it with him to his home; He expressed his desire to receive his service. Khudhiram became too emotional with tears over-flowing he said ‘ Prabho, I am a devotionless, poverty-stricken twice-born, in my house you will not find any comfort, I will remain a sinner for not serving your properly” Lord Ramachandra said “ Khudhiram, do not get scared, I will not mind your mistakes, but you should take me from here.” Khudhiram could not control his tears after listening to the compassionate words of Lord Ramachandra, instantly he opened his eyes.  He followed the instructions of Lord, he saw a Salagrama idol of Lord Ramachandra and it was spiraled by a serpent while watching the serpent moved away from the idol and disappeared to nearby areas.  Khudhiram understood this is Raghubira, he brought the idol with great joy and started worshiping sincerely.  

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -XII

Sri Dayananda Saraswathi visited Kashi, he was come to this land to give lectures on Aryasamaj, he gave speeches against the deities of Hindu and several scholars remained silent.  There was a debate in Gauri Kund and many scholars were defeated in the debate, Dhayanandswaraswathi proclaimed that there is one supreme spirit and He has no form, his organization had similarities of Bhramasamaj in Kolkata, many were becoming disciples of Dayananda Saraswathi.  He established Aryasamaj in Varanasi.  Many spiritually devoted people felt deeply hurt, came in the hermitage of Thrailanga Swamiji and revealed their distress against Aryasamaj and their disrespect towards Hindu deities, after listening to their qualms Swamiji wrote something on the paper and send to Dhayanandasaraswathi, after reading the message Dhayanandhasarasaraswathi disappeared from Kashi.

Somewhat like this incident happened to Umacharanji as well. He was working in a pharmaceutical company in Munger, his office mate was Mahendralal Gosh found some error in accounting and some money was missing, both of them were terribly upset about this because these two were in charge of finance.   Umacharan has the prime responsibility on the finance, they conducted meticulous search and it continued for three months, but there was no fruitful result.  These two-person jobs were at a risk, leaving work with a black mark and taking part in pilfering money around six hundred rupees both will earn stain in their lives.   Those days six hundred rupees was big money, he wanted to get rid of these troubles and returned to Kashi. He was quite confident that Swamiji will guide him in this matter, Swamiji asked him ‘ Child, you came here to find out the missing money, you and your friend Gosh are the same, you have sent two drafts worth 300 and 200 to two companies, and the receipts and acknowledgments are in the file, and the remaining hundred rupees Gosh will find out.” Umacharan returned to Munger and found the receipts in the file for 500 rupees, the hundred rupees which they found while rigorously searching in a box by Gosh, he was beaming with joy. Gosh said ‘You are fortunate to become a disciple of Swamiji, I will definitely visit Kashi with you, with all my hearts I sincerely prostrate before Swamiji ten thousand times.”  There were numerous disciples of Thrailanga Swamiji narrated his supernatural activities and there are several books describes the glories of Thrailangaswamiji.

One day the sacred city Kashi woke up with terrible news that Swamiji decided to embrace Samadhi, Panchaganga Ghat crowded with people, there are numerous Siddhapurusha, Yogis, saints and holy men arrived in Kashi, but none of them were taken Samadhi while living, it was  on 1887,  Shukla paksha Ekadashi day,  Swamiji sacrificed his mortal coil and attained Samadhi.

The walking Lord of Varanasi – Sri Thrailanga Swamiji

Pranams at the lotus feet of Swamiji!

Chapter -XI

Bhavanicharan Vachaspathi, who was severely ill with infection/black fever, he was tormented mentally and physically, he was advised by his neighbor and arrived at Thrailangaswamiji's Hermitage, Vachaspathiji made regular visits but he had to return without any communication with Swamiji, it continued for several days, once Swamiji asked the reason for his visit. Vachaspathiji poured out his troubles, after listening he advised Vachaspathiji to prepare a spirituous energy drink and consumed, advised him to visit Swamiji on a regular basis, he was repeated the same treatment, it continued for a month, Swamiji asked him to clean the surface and repeated the routine.  One day, Vachaspathi was asked to clean the place where Swamiji passed urine in large quantity, without any hesitations, he cleaned the entire place and went to take a holy dip, after that, he prepared the spirituous drink and consumed. Next day the same thing repeated with an order of Swamiji not to visit Mutt anymore, Swamiji assured he will get completely relieved from black fever in four days and it happened for real.

Umacharanji after returning from Kashi, he immersed in spreading the glories of his preceptor in his native village Munger, people were thrilled to listen to the supernatural powers of Swamiji, there were several people excited to meet Thrailangaswamiji, people were so devoted at the lectures of Umacharan, notes which were dictated by Swamiji himself.   Soon Umacharan received an instruction from his preceptor to stop spreading glories of Swamiji, Umacharan observed silence.  Later he forgot the instruction of Swamiji, he was persuaded by two close friends and arrived in  Kashi,  with his two close associates Yadhunathbhagji and another one is Srikrishnaprasanna Singh, but immediately after arriving the Mutt, Swamiji raged at  Srikrishnaprasanna Singh and spoke, ‘ You are  pride swollen, treating yourself as the incarnation of Lord Krishna, and wanted people to venerate you and touch your feet, you are too haughty, not hesitate to spread leg before twice-born, therefore your future is in darkness. You have only one quality; you are good in giving lectures, Puris made will dip in burning ghee to cook, it keeps making noise until it gets cooked well, once it gets cooked it will stop its noise, that is the state of you,”  Srikrishnaprasanna kept silence after listening to the unsympathetic yelling of Swamiji, he did not argue or responded at this.  Swamiji looked at Yadhunath and said ‘ You have read many scriptures and got yourself confused, your mind is not calm, the mind needs to be calm then only you will attain Mukthi, you have come to get Dheeksha from me, I will not make more disciple, Dheeksha to an undeserving person is sin, disciples are not willing to follow the instructions of the preceptor, then preceptor has to take care of those unfinished work, because it is the duty of preceptor to take care of the wellness of his disciple, I do not want to get myself into this sin,  therefore you go to my disciple Kalicharan and get Dheeksha.” Umacharan was stunned to know the real nature of his associates, if they were true they will talk about it, they kept quiet for all the remarks made by Swamiji.  Yadhunath realized the glories of Swamiji who is omniscient; he is aware of past, present and the future of a person. Later, Srikrishnaprasanna got Deeksha from a preceptor and built an Ashram in Dhashashvamedha Ghat and worshiped Goddess Annapurna, but the Mutt is in a pathetic state.