The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 8

 Gadhadhar understood that Ramkumar will not return to Padasala, finally, he joined with his elder brother in Dhakshineshwar.  Madhuranath Biswas, younger son-in-law of Rani Rasmoni took up the administration of the shrine; he used to visit the shrine on a regular basis.  Rani Rasmoni has no son; therefore he was in charge of all the properties of Rani Rasmoni.  Whenever he visits the temple, he looks at Gadhadhar, he had a great pull towards Gadhadhar, one day he asked Ramkumar ‘ Why you did not employ little priest on the temple related matter.” Ramkumar was well aware of his younger brother’s nature, he was not taking offerings of the temple, he cooks meals separately for him, and he knows that it is difficult to persuade him to do work of the shrine.   After listening to the lack of interest in Gadhadhar to do temple related works, Madhuranath decided one day he will employ him as a priest and make him serve Ma Kali.  One of these days, Ramkumar’s cousin Hridhayram came in search of a job in Dhakshineshwar.  He was just four years younger to Gadhadhar, these boys play together, work and roam around the places.  Gadhadhar brings mud from the river banks of Ganga and makes beautiful Linga.   One day Madhuranath took one of the idols and showed to Rani Rasmoni, both of them were surprised, it was difficult to find a fine idol like that in the market.  Next day Gadhadhar saw Madhuranath coming to shrine, he disappeared from his sight, Hridhayram asked why he is hiding after seeing Madhuranath, he said Madhuranath may ask him to do work in the shrine, he said Ma Kali is adorned in various precious ornaments all over the body, if anything has gone missing, he will be in trouble, Gadhadhar also said if Hridhayram take the responsibility of the ornaments, he will do the worship of Ma Kali.  Hridhayram was in urgent need of a job, he immediately agreed to take the responsibility of safekeeping of jewels of Ma Kali.  Finally, it happened the way Madhuranath wanted, Gadhadhar was appointed as a priest in the year 1855, and he started performing worship in the shrine.  Ramkumar taught the meticulous process of worship and its procedures to Gadhadhar.  One day Gadhadhar spoke to Hridhayram “It is necessary to build a Panchavati for meditation,” previously he used to sit under the Amla tree and conduct meditation, now the tree is no more, later they were five auspicious trees were planted at the instruction of Gadhadhar, thus Panchavati was constructed and became one of the famous meditation places, this was the place he used to sit for meditation.  In the meantime, his elder brother Ramkumar passed away. Eventually, all the temple related matters were fallen under the responsibility Ramkrishna, he became the priest of Ma Kali, soon his meditation process has taken him into a higher state. 

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 7

One day Maheshchatterji who was working for  Rani Rasmoni was living in Kamarpukur, he also started searching for a priest  to clear the issue of the shrine, so that he can remain in the good book of Rani Rasmoni and stay as a sincere servant of Rani Rasmoni.   He knows that Ramkumar’s financial situation is not good, anyway he had given the idea, and so he must be willing to take up the job of the priest.  Mahesh Chatterji advised Rani Rasmoni that if she requests Ramkumar Chattopadhyay who is Thanthric Pandit in the village of Kamarpukur to take up the position of the priest, he may accept, rest of the things he will make understand Ramkumar.  Rani Rasmoni wrote a letter to Ramkumar Chattopadhyay, he thought if he refused to do it Ma Jagadhamba’s Puja will get canceled.  She also mentioned in that letter that he can take up the position of priest in between if they find anyone Ramkumar can leave the duty.  This arrangement was perfect and was not a problem for him.  The preparations in the shrines were made immediately after getting acceptance from Ramkumar.  The initial ceremony to Ma Kali was organized in a grand manner, there were intellectuals and scholars who arrived from  Kashi, Navadhvip, Srighat, Kanyakubj, and various sacred places in Dhakshineshvar, everyone was treated reverentially, and generous contributions were given in the form of clothes and money.  She spent nearly nine lakhs rupees for this purpose, on the day of initiation ceremony Gadhadhar also arrived, but he did not accept offerings.   In the evening he got something from outside and slept early.  The next day, Gadhadhar did not see his brother in the Padasala, so he came to meet him in the shrine.   Ramkumar asked him to stay with him, but he did not listen.  Gadhadhar stayed for nearly a week in Shyamapukur waiting for his brother’s return, but it did not happen, on the eighth day he returned to Dhakshineshwar.  He saw his brother was appointed as formal priest of Dhakshineshwar,  Ramkumar thought after initiation of worship, Rani Rasmoni will find someone to perform regular Puja, then he can return to his Padasala, but that did not happen. He did not want to become a formal priest, he just wants to initiate worship of Ma Kali, moreover, he was pressurized from all sides to take up the position, finally, he had left with no choice.

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 6

On the same day of arrival of Gadhadhar in Kolkata, a miracle took place in the royal family of Kolkata.   Rani Rasmoni had a desire to visit Kashi and have a Dharshan of Lord Vishwanatha and Goddess Annapurna, all the arrangements were made for their journey. Unfortunately, her husband passed away eventually the trip got canceled.  Rani Rasmoni had to take care of huge responsibilities and properties of the royal house, after a few years, Rani Rasmoni decided to go to Kashi, on the previous day night, she had a dream in that Goddess Ma Kali gave an instruction “You need not go to Kashi, build a shrine for me in a beautiful place on the banks of river Bhageerathi, install my idol and arrange for worship and offerings, I will reside in that idol and will receive all your offerings and services.” Rani Rasmoni shocked and got up from sleep, later she canceled the trip to Kashi and immersed in the arrangements related to the building of shrine on the banks of river Bhageerathi.    while construction of Shrine she had many thoughts back in her mind, ‘ I am a Shudhra, if there is no Bhramin come for performing Puja it would be inauspicious, or people refuse to accept offerings of a Shudra, what would I do?” She consulted with intellectuals and scholars in her palace, they affirmed that according to Purana it is impossible for a Bhramin to perform Puja or receive offerings or install idol in a temple built by Shudra.   Rani Rasamon felt terribly upset about the advice of intellectuals.  The shrine was built with great devotion and enthusiasm, what to do next? idol also ready to be installed.  Ramkumar Chattopadhyay advised Rani Rasmoni, if the whole property of the shrine is given as charity to a Bhramin, a twice-born can perform all the rites of the temple and carry out regular worship without any obstacles. It would not be a problem if a Brahmin perform offerings to a deity and distribute offerings among people, even the higher class /Varnna of people take part in offerings would not attain any sin.  Rani Rasmoni was extremely happy to hear the arrangement, she again discussed with the Pundit Mandali and they remained silent, she offered a high amount as salary for the priest.  People called it against the social norms, but none of the intellectuals are ready to say it openly, they said Ramkumar’s idea is against the law of scriptures. 

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.