THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA

THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 1

In 1836 was born the Avatar of the Age in Kamarpukur, Bengal, to humble parents Kshudiram and Chandramani. The boy grew up to be the sage of Dakshineswar, a spiritual phenomenon unparalleled in history. There, on the outskirts of Kolkata, he lived an extraordinary life of the Spirit, realising the truths of all the major religions of the world and pronouncing the epic statement : "As many faiths, so many paths." Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, in a lifespan of 50 years changed the contours of the spiritual history of the world whose fruition we are now witnessing in mute wonder and awe.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 2

Gadadhar or the boy Ramakrishna, was a bonny child given to much playfulness and pranks. He was contemplative by nature, was a beautiful singer, a good sculptor, a perfect mimic and a brilliant actor. He had an artistic temperament and was quite averse to formal academic training. Instead, he preferred the free and buoyant company of his friends in the enactment of a play in the orchard of the village landlord. He also had a pronounced dislike for mathematics. He had a great affinity for the mendicant monks that halted at Kamarpukur en route to Sri Jagannathkshetra, Puri. He served them in all possible ways and once even donned the sannyasin's garb much to his mother's consternation.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 3

Gadadhar was given to spiritual moods as was evidenced on at least three occasions in his boyhood days. Once while crossing a paddy-field he witnessed a flight of white cranes against the backdrop of a darkening norwester sky. Instantly, the artist in him was overwhelmed by the beauteous contrast of colours and he fell unconscious on the field. The puffed rice tucked in a corner of his dhoti scattered all over as the spirit of the boy soared, a skylark in the limpid spaces of the Infinite. When he came to his outer consciousness he seemed to manifest no physical debility or psychological aberration. After initial apprehensions thus, his parents were comforted by his manifestly good health.

On another occasion a play on Bhagavan Shiva was to be enacted when the person playing the role of Shiva fell ill. Gadai being a good actor, he was summoned to act as substitute to avoid the scenario of the play falling through. However, when he took to the stage in Shiva's attire, and had to deliver the dialogues, he became so absorbed in the thought of Shiva that he stood transfixed as a statue in a profusion of tears, oblivious of his surroundings. When all efforts to recall him to a state of normalcy failed, the play was called off. The night passed in the state of ecstasy but Gadai was the same bonny child as before the following morning. This time also his parents were alarmed but on seeing him sunny again as before their fears were gradually assuaged.

A third ecstasy the boy Gadadhar experienced en route to Anur, a neighbouring village famous for the shrine of Vishalakshi Devi. Gadai accompanied the village maidens who doted on him, the daughters of Dharmadas Laha, the village landlord. But before the party could reach Anur, Gadai was possessed by the spirit of Vishalakshi Devi, so to say, and his companions in awe, considering their pilgrimage fulfilled perhaps, reverently retraced their steps back to Kamarpukur.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE PEERLESS PARAMAHAMSA ... 4

At the age of seven Gadai lost his father. Kshudiram, the venerable brahman, passed away suddenly at a relative's place in neighbouring Salampore where he had gone to attend the annual Durga Puja festival. When his final moment came he was set up in the sitting posture and chanting 'Raghubir, Raghubir, Raghubir' thrice, he lay in the lap of his beloved God for his final sleep.

The Chattopadhyas were devastated. The patriarch was gone and Ramkumar was called upon to discharge the responsibilities of the family. Chandramani Devi was a shadow of her former buoyant self and remained increasingly immersed in daily devotions of the family deity Raghubir. Even the bonny boy, Gadai, was profoundly affected by this visitation of death, a phenomenon that cast a deep impression on his sensitive mind and perhaps transformed him for life. He now became more indrawn and reflective but keenly sensitive to giving added company to his bereaved mother. Gadai helped her in her household chores and in her daily worship of Raghubir. He became less demanding as a child and did whatever he could in his own boyish way to assuage her grief. But the passage of Kshudiram changed the contours of the Chattopadhyay family for good. Who knows how he would have related to his father through his blossoming boyhood were he spared the company of his sage-like sire? But that was not to be and Gadai grew up in the affectionate care of his elder brothers Ramkumar and Rameshwar and his doting mother Chandramani.

Written by Sugata Bose