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Ihe GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA
Jlccording to ZM.. (<5KCahendra),
a Son of the Lord and Disciple
OR THE IDEAL MAN FOR INDIA AND FOR THE WORLD
PART I
PUBLISHED BY SAN FRANCISCO VEDANTA SOCIETY
2963 WEBSTER STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. ' i zl
A Reprint from Madras Edition
Copyrighted, 1912,
By "Professor Printed at the HINDU TEMPLE 2963 Webster Street San Francisco, Calif., U. S. A. £CI.A3J.44l/6 LETTERS ON THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA FROM SWAMI VIVEKANANDA Dear M., C'est bon mon ami— now you are doing just the thing. Come out man. No sleeping all life; time is flying. Bravo! That is the way. Many many thanks for your publication — only I am afraid it will not pay its way in a pamphlet form. * * * Never mind pay or no pay — let it see the blaze of daylight. You will have many blessings on you and many more curses — but Vaisaho sada \ala banata sahevci*. This is the time. Yours in the Lord, (Sd.) VIVEKANANDA. October, 1897. c/o Lala Hansraj, Rawalpindi ; That is always the way of the world ! Dehra Doon, 24th November, 1897. My Dear M, Many many many many thanks for your second leflet. It is indeed wonderful. The move is quite original, and never was the life of a great teacher brought before the public untar- nished by the writer's mind as you are doing. The language also is beyond all praise, so fresh, so pointed, and withal so plain and easy. I cannot express in adequate terms how I have enjoyed them. I am really in a transport when I read them. Strange isn't it? Our teacher and Lord was so original, and each one of us will have to be original or nothing. I- now understand why none of us attempted his life before. It has been reserved for you, this great work. He is with you evidently. With all love and namasfaar, (Sd.) VIVEKANANDA. (P. S.) Socratic dialogues are Plato all over —you are entirely hidden. Moreover, the dramatic part is infinitely beautiful. . Everybody likes it — here or in the West. (Sd.) V. CONTENTS Pages - - - - - Introduction 1 — 20 Section I. — Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineshwara with M., Narendra (Vivekananda) and Other Disciples - - - - -21—47 Section II. —Visit to Pandit Ishwara Chandra Vidya- sagar ------48— 78 Section III. — Sri Ramakrishna at the Temple of Dakshineshwara with Narendra (Vivekananda), Rakhal, M., and Other Disciples - - 79— 94 Section IV. — Steamer Trip with Keshab Chandra Sen, Leader of the Brahma-Samaj — the Neo- - theistic Movement in Bengal - - 95 — 1 18 Section V. — Sri Ramakrishna with Keshab Chan- dra Sen at Lily Cottage - 119— 131 Section VI. —A Day with Sri Ramakrishna at the 32 Temple at Dakshineshwara - - - | — 142 Section VII. — Visit to Surendra's Garden - - 143— 156 7 Section VIII.—Visit to a Hindu Pandit and Preacher 1 5 — 1 69 Section IX. — Sri Ramakrishna at the Temple (Dak- shineshwara) ----- 170— 190 Section X. — Sri Ramakrishna at the Temple of Dakshineshwara, with Narendra (Vivekananda) and other Disciples - - - - 191 —203 Section XI.— Sri Ramakrishna at the House of Bala- ram, a Disciple, with Narendra (Vivekananda), Girish, Balaram, Chunilall, Latoo, Narayan, M., and Other Disciples - - - - 204—227 Section XII. — Sri Ramakrishna at Shyampukur (Calcutta) with the Disciples; and Ishan, Dr. Sarkar and Others - 228—242 Section XIII.—The Master at Shyampukur, Calcutta, with His Disciples - 243—258 Section XIV. — Sri Ramakrishna at Cossipore Gar- den with Narendra (Vivekananda), Rakhal, M., Girish, and Other Disciples - - 259—268 THE GOSPEL OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA INTRODUCTION SRI RAMAKRISHNA—A SHORT SKETCH OF HIS LIFE Birth of Sri Ramakrishna — His father Khudiram and mother Chandramani — The primary school — His daily worship of Raghubir, his household God — Mixing with holy men — Listening to the recital of the Sacred Books — Beholds a miraculous Light of Glory — — at at Dakshi- Comes down— to Calcutta Sees God the Temple of the Universal Mother neshwara 'Like one mad' — Thrown into the company of holy men in the Temple — Listens to the recital of the Vedanta by Totapuri — Practises austerities according to the Sacred Books —Talking with the Mother of the Universe — His ' members near and dear to him'— His devotees — Ramakrishna and the Brahma-Samaj — Reconciliation of all Religions — His female devotees— The communion of devotees. (£RI RAMAKRISHNA was born in a village called Kamarpukur, in the district of Hughli, Bengal, on Wednesday, the 20th of February, 1834, or the 10th of Falgun, 1 756 Saka, the second lunar day of the light fortnight. He came of a highly respected, though poor, Brahman family. The village of Kamarpukur is about eight miles west of the sub-division Arambag, formerly called Jehanabad, and about twenty-six miles south of Burdwan. Ramakrishna's father, Khudiram Chatterjee, was a great devotee. His mother, Chandramani Devi, was the imperson- ation of kindness. In her there was no guile. The family used formerly to live in a neighboring village called Deray, three miles from Kamarpukur. Khudiram, with the inde- pendence of a cultured Brahman, declined to appear before a law-court and give evidence in favor of the local magnate, the landlord of the village. The great man made the place too hot for Khudiram, and he left Deray with his family and settled in Kamarpukur. Sri Ramakrishna was called Gadadhar in his childhood. He received some lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic at the village primary school. Shuvankara, the well-known mathematician, whose arithmetic is widely read in Bengal, only, as he used to say, threw his head into confusion. After leaving the village school, the boy was not allowed to sit idle at home. His next duty was to attend to the daily worship of his household God, Raghubir. Every morning he 2 GOSPEL OF SRI