The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 13

Parivrajakacharya Thottapuri during the spiritual tour arrived in Dhakshineshwar, he settled in the Ghat, Ramakrishna roams around and sat near Thottapuri who was surprised to see the state of Ramakrishna.  Thottapuri understood the spiritual powers of Thakurji, he remarked this youth is not an ordinary human, he is an incomparable Yogi.  He was amazed to see the kind of practice of meditation carried out by Ramakrishna could not be seen easily, Thoththapuri after keenly observing Ramkrishna replied “you are a supreme spirit, I wanted to teach you Vedantha and Sadhana, will you learn?”  Thakurji said “I do not know anything, do not know what I want to do, my mother Kali knows everything; if she permits me I will learn.”  Thottapuri said “ Ok, right. Go and ask this matter to your Mother, I will not wait for too long here,” Thakurji went straight to Jagadamba’s shrine and became too emotional,  Ma Kali ordered “ Go and learn lessons from Him.  He came here for that purpose only” Thakurji returned to Thottapuri and informed the message of Ma Jagadamba, Swami Thoththapuri was too glad to receive him, “ In order to learn and practice Vedantha you should sacrifice the Shikha Suthra, and fine clothes,” Thakurji  said “ Please tell me what all to follow I will do it, otherwise, my mother will be disappointed,” One-day Ramakrishna was initiated into Sanyasa under the supervision of Thottapuri and continued Vedantha sadhana, but Thakurji failed to attain Nirvikalpasamadhi, Thottapuri felt so angry, he took a piece of glass and scratched on the middle of the two eyebrows, “ concentrate on this point,” previously whenever he concentrates on the meditation he was always taken to Ma Kali,  this time he firmly concentrated on the point, seeing his disciple immersed in meditation, Thottapuri came out of the chamber and closed it from outside, so that no one can break his meditation, thinking that when he gets out of the meditation, he will call for someone to open the door.  Three days went off, but Ramakrishna did not get out of the Samadhi, Ramakrishna did not ask to open the door, Thottapuri was extremely worried, he opened the lock and saw, Ramakrishna was sitting in the same posture how Thoththapuri was instructed, his body has no sign of life, his face was serene and majestic with radiance.  Thottapuri was stunned to see the Samadhi of Ramakrishna, he took forty years to achieve this state of spiritual advancement, and this Mahapurusha attained that highest state in a day.  He continued to keep checking on Ramakrishna’s breath; he said: “It is the miracle of Ma Kali.” 

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 12

In the year 1861 Bhairavi Bhramani came to visit Dhakshineshwar, she was middle-aged ascetic covered in a saffron robe, she holds a trident,  she was from the pious Bhramin family, she carries a Raghubir Shila, she was well conversant with the Thanthri principles and texts of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.    She converses with Thakurji for hours after seeing his intense meditation, she got too pleased at him, and she considered Ramakrishna as her own son.  While talking Bhairavi said “ Oh! Child, I was searching for a disciple like you, You practice Thanthrasadhana, I will teach you the process,” after a few days Bhairavi told Madhuranath that Thakurji is not an ordinary human, he is an incarnation of Lord, you should take care of him in a special manner,  Thakurji will be highly propitious for all of you,” Madhuranath had the experience of the same.  Thakurji undertakes extreme Sadhanas under the bale tree, at the northern end of Dhakshineshwar garden.

One day Madhuranath arrived at the shrine with Rani Rasmoni.  At the end of Puja, Rani requested Thakurji to sing praising Ma Kali,  Ramakrishna started to sing the glories of Ma Kali. While singing he gave a slap on the upper back of Rani Rasmoni saying that “you are thinking all those things sitting before Ma Kali” All the temple workers were got infuriated at the senseless act of Ramakrishna.   Madhuranath’s eyes became red with anger, everyone knows that Thakurji is mad, at that moment Rani Rasmoni showed a gesture to stop all the chaos, she prostrates before Ramakrishna and said “ Thakur, kindly forgive my mistake,  now you start singing. I will not let my mind wander.”  Later Rani Rasmoni was surprised and said “ Thakur is Antharyami, he is omniscient, he is the knower of all while listening to his singing, my mind wandered into court matter,” Madhuranath became too devoted to Thakurji after listening to Rani Rasmoni.  He always takes sincere care of Thakurji, like a sincere servant of Lord, he remembered the words of Hridhayram “ Ma Kali always appears before Mamaji, she consumes offerings from his hand, she converses with Mamaji,” Ramkrishna learned Thanthric practices from Bhairavi Bhramani, he had some changes in his behavior.   Madhuranath was always worried about the mental health of Thakurji, he brought a doctor to treat Ramkrishna, his mother arrived to Dhakshineshwar after hearing the difficulties of Ramakrishna, saw three cousins were taking care of Ramakrishna.   Thakurji’s spiritual practices went up to the supreme state, he started practicing Adhvaithasadhana, his health conditions were getting worse day by day, he was void of sleep, hunger, clothes and  unaware of the need to perform necessary tasks for living, he stopped talking to people completely.

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 11

Ramakrishna was the youngest son, so Chandradevi had a special affection towards him.  She was too anxious about Ramakrishna after the death of Ramkumar, she received news from Kolkata that Ramakrishna became lunatic, so two of his relatives went to pick him from Dhakshineshwar.  She brought the village physician and showed Ramkrishna, and followed the medication, but there was no much effect on Ramakrishna.  The elders in the village advised her to perform the marriage of Ramakrishna at the earliest.  Chandradevi was pleased with this decision, duly informed to his son, he did not utter any word against it.  One day Ramakrishna was on meditation, he informed his mother not to conduct the search for his bride here and there, he clearly mentioned the details of his future bride and it happened exactly the same way Ramkrishna predicted.   Thus,  At the age of 23, in the year 1859, May,  Ramkrishna was married to Sri Sarada Devi from the Jayrambati.  Sri Sarada Devi was born on Dec 22^nd 1853; she was the eldest daughter of Sri Ramachandramukhopadhyay and Devi Syamasundari.   Saradadevi was 6 years when she got married to Ramakrishna, after one year of marriage he returned to Dhakshineshwar.  In the year 1872, she had a vision Ma Kali who instructed her to join with Ramakrishna in Dhakshineshwar, at the age of 19 years she joined with Ramakrishna.  She dutifully served her husband and his disciples who were treated her as Mother.  Ramakrishna envisioned Ma Kali in Saradadevi, he performs Shodasha Upachara Puja to her.  In between she had to move to her father’s home, once again in 1877 she joined with Ramakrishna while he imitated the Puja of Jagadhathri in Dhakshineshwar,  she was celestial being symbolizes Jnana, Bakthi and Karama Yoga, she has reflected the qualities of simplicity, kindness, compassion, care, and love.  She was exceptional in being a devoted wife, the supreme ascetic, compassionate mother, and preceptor. Once Ma Sharadadevi asked her husband “ How did you think of me?” Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsa said “ I am seeing you as Ma Kali who resides in the shrine of Sri Dhakshineshwar”, he was treated all the females as the form of Ma Kali. 

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 10

Ramtharak followed all the yogic practices and meditation of Gadhadhar, he also heard from Hridhayram that Gadhadhar performs meditation without clothes in the Panchavati, it has become a regular practice that the whole shrine was reverberating with the painful cries of Gadhadhar “Ma , Ma, “.  One day Ramtharak said “ Ramkrishna, I have understood you. Your body holds the presence of the supreme Lord.”  Madhuranath thought it must be the cause of strict celibacy Ramkrishna facing intense emotional disturbances,  Madhuranath felt terribly upset seeing the  pitiful emotional state of Ramakrishna Thakur.  In order to bring some changes in his mental state, he brought a most beautiful young lady to Dhakshineshwar, so that she could attract Ramakrishna with his lustful physical appearance, later she was sent to the streets of prostitutes, everyone got attracted towards her, they all have seen the presence of Jaganmatha in her.  Madhuranatha saw everyone approaches her calling “Ma, Ma,”,  rest of the ladies become too devoted and kind,  Madhuranath felt guilty for his evil thought, eventually, he became too devoted to Ramakrishna.   Madhuranath would go terribly disturbed in his absence. 

The legend of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa -

Pranams at the lotus feet of Thakurji!

Chapter – 9

One day Ramkrishna was angrily spoke to Ma Kali “you have given Dharshan to Ramprasad, why don’t you give me your Dharshan?” his pain of separation from Ma Kali increased day by day, he went inside the adjacent room and brought a knife, he wanted to cut off his throat before Ma Kali, at that moment Ma Kali appeared before him and he fell down unconscious.  After this incident, his behavior has changed drastically while performing Puja he takes the offerings and feed Ma Kali saying “ Take it, Mother, kindly eat it or shall I eat first?” he eats the offerings and the remaining take to the mouth of Ma Kali, sometimes he says “ what are you saying Ma? Shall I sleep on your lap? Ok. I will sleep on your lap.” He falls asleep , sometimes he showers all the flowers on the idol and stand quite, sometimes he sits hours and hours meditation holding the offerings, so that Ma Kali eat her meal, sometimes he cries ‘Ma, Ma’ and roll on the ground, if anyone asks him to sing about Ma, he emotionally sing.  He became extremely passionate about love for Ma Kali.   Hridhayram was felt anxious seeing the pathetic condition of his uncle.  If Gadhadhar was not treated early, his condition may go worse.  Some people complaint to Madhuranath about Gadhadhar that he is not performing Puja but behaving undisciplined.  One day he visited the shrine and was witnessing the Puja standing in the crowd.  Gadhadhar was talking emotionally to the idol of Ma Kali and shedding tears. Madhuranath immediately understood that one day Ma Kali will appear before the devotion of Gadhadhar,  he informed the rest of the temple workers that let Gadhadhar do all the rites as he wishes, do not interfere in any of the matters, do not criticize him, Madhuranath said he will take care of everything.  Worship of Ma Kali find it difficult due to the condition of Gadhadhar, eventually a new priest Ramtharak who was a Tantric priest was appointed, he was a cousin of Gadhadhar, he has also arrived in Kolkata in search of a job.  The workers of the temple remained distant from Ramtharak who was a Thanthric priest. People of Thakurbadi/shrine often discussed his behavior on his back, when Gadhadhar came to know about it, he discussed with Ramtharak, he was elder to Gadhadhar and chief priest of the temple, so he felt bad at the comment of Gadhadhar, he said “ you are my younger brother, still you do not have respect towards me, bleed your mouth”  Gadhadhar tried to convince him, he was not willing to listen to him.  After a few days of this incident, in the night there was bleeding from the nose of Gadhadhar, all of the people of Thakurbadi worriedly rushed towards him including Ramtharak, seeing him Gadhadhar said ‘you have cursed me, see my state of health now.” And started crying, suddenly a saint appeared from nowhere and he tested the blood and said ‘Do not worry, it is good that the blood came out, I think you were performing extreme Yogic posture while doing Charamasamadhi in Hatha Yoga, the blood raised towards the brain, luckily it rushed up to the nose and came out, it is good that it did not enter into the brain and if so the Samadhi will not break, because of Jaganmatha wanted to perform some miracles through your selfless service.” Everyone felt happy at the consoling words of the saint. 

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.