Ramakrishna Paramhansa birth anniversary: All you need to know about the spiritual leader

Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a mystic and a yogi who translated complex spiritual concepts into simple and easily comprehensible language.

Ramakrishna was a key figure in the revival of Hinduism in Bengal at a time when a severe spiritual crisis was gripping the province leading several young Bengalis to embrace Brahmoism and Christianity.

Born in a simple Bengali rural family in 1836, Ramakrishna was a simple yogi who pursued the Divine throughout his life in various forms and believed in the divine embodiment of the Supreme Being in every individual.

Swami Vivekananda continued to spread his teachings

Even after his passing in 1886, his most well-known pupil Swami Vivekananda continued to spread his teachings and ideas around the world through the Ramakrishna Mission. In essence, his teachings were as conventional as those of the wise men and seers of long ago, yet he has always been current.

Both Ramakrishna's disciples and some of the most illustrious Hindu intellectuals of his time came to see him as an avatar, or divine manifestation. 

Ramakrishna was born as Gadadhar Chattopadhyay on February 18, 1836 to a poor Brahmin family that hailed from the Kamarpukur village of Hoogly district in Bengal Presidency.

Gadadhar was religiously motivated from an early age and would have moments of spiritual bliss as a result of commonplace events. While performing pujas or watching a religious play, he would enter trances.

Ramakrishna was categorised as a "Shakto"

Ramakrishna was categorised as a "Shakto" because he worshipped the goddess Kali, but this did not prevent him from engaging in other forms of spiritual worship.

Ramakrishna was likely one of the few yogis who had explored a variety of spiritual paths in an effort to realise divinity rather than adhering to just one. He studied under a variety of different Gurus and eagerly assimilated their philosophical teachings.

Among the other prominent disciples of Ramakrishna were Mahendranath Gupta, Girish Chandra Ghosh (noted poet, playwright, theatre director and actor), Mahendra Lal Sarkar (one of the most successful Homeopath doctors of the nineteenth century)

Ramakrishna passed away on 16 August, 1886 after a long battle with throat cancer.

Published on: Friday, February 17, 2023, 04:21 PM IST