Holy Trinity

Khudiram came back to Kamarpukur and told his wife about the dream he head at Gaya, his wife also told something about her divine vision. She told him that once as she was standing in front of the Shiva temple along with Dhani, (who reared up Sri Ramakrishna from his very birth) suddenly she saw that the Shiva temple was engulfed with a luminous light. The light rushed towards Chandramani, entered into her womb and she felt that she was with a child. When Chandramani told this to her husband, he said, “Well, we should not divulge this to anybody in the village, lest we should be mistrusted”. In due course, Sri Ramakrishna was born. He was named Gadadhar by his parents.

During the early days at Kamarpukur, there was ample evidence of his spiritual greatness. One day while he was walking along the paddy fields, suddenly the sky was covered with dark thunderclouds and against this background, some white cranes flew across the sky. At this sight, he thought of the fantastic beauty of God and lost himself in ecstasy. He had another trance on the Shivaratri night at Pynes’ house. As the actor who was to enact Lord Shiva’s role could not come for the performance, Gadadhar was requested to play the part. Coming on the stage, he was totally absorbed in the thought of the Lord Shiva so much so that he could not enact the role and passed into deep trance and the performance had to stop. Thus his Kamarpukur day passed and when he was about 16 years old, his elder brother took him to Calcutta.

After all these years, when she entered into Sri Ramakrishna’s room, warm and kind words of welcome of her affectionate husband instantly removed all the doubts that had persisted in her mind about his mental state till then, She thought, “Ah my husband is not a mad man. ” Once, Sri Ramakrishna said to her, “As for me, the Mother has shown me that She resides in every woman and so I have learned to look upon every woman as Mother. That is the one idea I can have about you; but if you wish to drag me into the world, as I have been married to you, I am at your service. Tell me what you want”. She was a pure and noble soul and was able to understand her husband’s aspirations and sympathise with them. And so, she said without a moment’s hesitation. “No, why should I drag you to the world? I have come to help you in your chosen path.”

The Mother, too, one day asked Sri Ramakrishna, as she was stroking his feet: “How do you regard me? Sri Ramakrishna said in reply: ” the Mother who is worshipped in the temple and the mother who gave birth to this (pointing to his body) and is now living in the Nahabat – the same Mother is now stroking my feet. Really and truly I always regard you as the embodiment of the blissful Mother of the Universe.” Romain Rolland, while referring to the self-denial on the part of Sri Sarada Devi writes: “It was by the consent of his wife that he was free to follow the life of his choice. Magnanimously she renounced the wife’s binding right over her husband and encouraged in his mission.” Refereeing to his wife’s immaculate purity, Sri Ramakrishna once said to his disciples: ” if she had not been completely pure, if she had lost self-control, then who can say if I too might not have lost self-control and brought my mind down to the physical level.” Judged from this standpoint we can say that Sri Sarda Devi’s greatest contribution to humanity is Ramakrishna himself. Living together for eight months, Ramakrishna was fully convinced of the utterly pure nature of Sarda. He was convinced that her purity was not only physical, but that there was no trace of worldliness in her mind. Thus, on an auspicious day, he worshipped her in place of the Divine Mother and offered all the fruits of his life long austerities at her holy feet with his rosary, looking upon her as the Goddess in person. Thus, from that day onwards she came to be known as Sri Sarda Devi, the Holy Mother, not only to the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna, but also to the whole of humanity. The Holy Mother once said; ” The Master (Sri Ramakrishna) used to see the Divine Mother in everyone. He left me behind this time for teaching the motherhood of God to humanity.” Regarding the Holy Mother, Sri Ramakrishna used to say: She is Sarada in very truth, the Goddess Saraswati Herself incarnated for the dissemination of spiritual knowledge. Illumination is in her gift. She is profound in wisdom. Is she an ordinary person? She is my Shakti (Power) indeed. Very few actually know to what extent this divine consort of Sri Ramakrishna was responsible for the phenomenal growth and expansion the great Ramakrishna Order.

When a lotus blooms its fragrance draws bees to it. Similarly with the completion of his spiritual austerities, devotees started coming to him from far and near. Along with the harmony of different religions, he taught many other things. His foremost disciple was Narendranath Dutta, who afterwards became known as the world renowned Swami Vivekananda. He was born in the year 1863 in Calcutta. Visiting Sri Ramakrishna for the first time as a college student, he asked him “Sir, have you seen God?” Sri Ramakrishna told, “Yes, I have seen God, only more tangibly than seeing you. My boy, every one shed jugs of tears for wife and children but not for the love of God. If you want you can also see Him”. Sri Ramakrishna wanted his disciples to see God in all beings and to serve them in a spirit of worship. Thus one day when Narendranath asked Sri Ramakrishna for a boon to remain merged in samadhi for three or four days at a stretch, he took him to task. “Shame on you! You are asking for such an insignificant thing. There is a state higher than that. Don’t you sing that song ‘Oh Lord! Thou art all that exists’? I thought that you would be like a banyan tree and that thousands of people would rest under your shade. But now I see that you are seeking your own liberation.”

Sri Ramakrishna wanted Narendranath to see Brahman with eyes open. He said: “Is it that God exists when your eyes are closed and does not exist when they are open? All that exists is Lord and Lord alone. Try to see Brahman with eyes open. Every jiva is God.” Therefore, from him the world learnt these new doctrines of relationship of jiva and the Eternal Divinity. Thus, we find in Swamiji’s writings, letters and lectures throughout the world, the call to know human beings to be our Gods and that service to them alone is the highest religion. Swamiji wanted that the Advaita Vedanta which was till then confined to the forest retreats and monasteries should be brought into everyday life of the people and to accomplish this, he got the key-note in Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching. “Every Jiva (living being) is Shiva and service to the Jiva is the worship of Shiva” When we go to a place of worship what we usually do is, we worship the image there. But Sri Ramakrishna wants that our worship should not end there. After coming out of the place of worship, we should worship God residing in all beings. That makes our worship complete.

Before Sri Ramakrishna passed away at the cossipore garden house near Calcutta, one day he called Narendranath to his room and transmitted all his powers to him, saying, Naren, today I have given you my all and I have become a fakir (beggar). With this, you will do great good to the world.” It was at this house in August 1886, a few days before he left his mortal coil, something very significant happened. That day Narendranath was sitting near the Master thinking that in the midst of the terrible pain that Sri Ramakrishna was having in his throat, if he can speak out and declare that he is God, then he will surely believe him. No sooner, he thought thus, Sri Ramakrishna said clearly to him: “Well, don’t you believe even now? He who was Rama and He who was Krishna is now Sri Ramakrishna in this body.”

Let us now refer to what Swam Vivekananda said about his Great Master:

“This is the message of Sri Ramakrishna to the modern world. Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas or sects or churches or temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man, which spirituality and the more this is developed in a man, the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquire that, and criticize no one, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization. Only those can understand who have felt. Only those who have attained to spirituality can communicate it to others, can be great teachers of humanity. They alone are the owners of light. The more such men are produced in a country, the more that country will raised and that country where such men absolutely do not exist is simply doomed, nothing can save it Therefore my Master’s message to mankind is “Be spiritual and realize truth for yourself”. To proclaim and make clear the fundamental unity underlying in all religions was the mission of my Master. Other teachers have taught special religion, which bear their names; but this great teacher of nineteenth century made no claim for himself. He left every religion undisturbed because he had realized that, in reality they are all part and parcel of the one eternal religion.”