Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Mahendranath Gupta Sri Ramakrishna Volume V of V Table of Contents Publisher's Note Acknowledgements M's Meeting with Sri Ramakrishna Life of Thakur as Told by Himself Prayer Section 1 Sri Ramakrishna with Devotees Section 2 Sri Ramakrishna with Devotees at Dakshineswar Section 3 Sri Ramakrishna at the Brahmo Festival Celebrated at Mani Mallick’s Section 4 Sri Ramakrishna in Joyful Singing at the House of Govinda Mukherji in a Village in Belgharia – With Narendra and Other Devotees Section 5 Sri Ramakrishna with Brahmo Devotees at Brahmo Samaj in Sinthi Section 6 Sri Ramakrishna at Balaram’s and Adhar’s houses in Calcutta Section 7 Sri Ramakrishna with Devotees at Dakshineswar Section 8 Adhar’s House – Sri Ramakrishna with Rakhal, Ishan and Other Devotees Section 9 At Dakshineswar with Devotees Section 10 Sri Ramakrishna at the Durga Puja Festival at Adhar’s House Section 11 The Lakshmi Full Moon Festival of the Bright Fortnight of Aswin at Dakshineswar Section 12 Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar with Devotees Section 13 Sri Ramakrishna with the Devotees in Ram Chandra’s Garden House Section 14 Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar with Manilal and other devotees Section 15 Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar –Phalaharini Puja and the Vidyasundar Musical Theatrical Performance Section 16 Birthday Celebration for Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar – Joyful Kirtan with Narendra and Other Devotees Section 17 Conversation at Girish’s House on Harmony of Knowledge and Devotion Section 18 Sri Ramakrishna Observing Silence and Vision of Maya Appendix 1 Sri Ramakrishna and Narendra (Swami Vivekananda) Vivekananda in America and in Europe Appendix 2 Sri Ramakrishna and Bankim Appendix 3 (B) With Keshab at the Dakshineswar Temple Appendix 4 Sri Ramakrishna’s Visit to Surendra’s Home Appendix 5 Sri Ramakrishna at Manomohan’s Home Appendix 6 Sri Ramakrishna at Rajendra’s House Appendix 7 Sri Ramakrishna at the Grand Festival of the Brahmo Samaj at Shimulia A Guide to Daily Visits with Sri Ramakrishna Index of Visitors, Devotees of Inner Circle, and Visiting Devotees Complete Index of M's Visits to Sri Ramakrishna Glossary Song Index << Back To Main Page - Sri Ma Trust Email: [email protected] Publisher’s Note We present before our English-speaking readers the fifth volume of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. By the immense grace of Sri Ramakrishna, the first edition was published in 2001, followed by Volume II in 2002, Volume III in 2005 and Volume IV in 2007. A second, enhanced edition of Volume I was printed in 2010. In this five-volume series we attempt to translate the original Bengali edition as published by M., which is currently published by the Kathamrita Bhawan, Calcutta. Before you dive deep into the Kathamrita, a look at its publishing history may be of interest. The five volumes of the Kathamrita in Bengali by M. saw the light of day in the years 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910, and 1932. Reading all five volumes, one sees the develop-ment of the mind: from intellectual to intellectual-spiritual, from intellectual-spiritual to spiritual-intellectual, and from spiritual-intellectual to pure spiritual, and then to the practical pure spiritual state. In the first volume we find profound truths explained with the help of illustrations as guide to intellectual reasoning. For example, the tortoise moves about in water, but do you know where its mind abides? Rub your hands with oil before you break the jackfruit, and so on. In Volume II the highest Truth is explained by an intellect that is soaked in spirit. In Volume III Sri Ramakrishna is found expounding sublime truths from a totally spiritual perspective. In Volume IV a practical spirit shows how to internalize and apply the injunc-tions in everyday life. Volume V additionally contains an index of characters and the songs of all five volumes. The five volumes of the Kathamrita, then, are five steps leading us from the gross to the Mahakarana (the Great Cause). Smt. Ishwar Devi Gupta, who left her mortal body on Buddha Purnima, 26 May 2002, remains the driving spirit behind the translation and publication of these volumes of the Kathamrita, both in English and in Hindi. It was her strong desire that an English version of the five volumes be published. Her husband, Sri Dharm Pal Gupta, maintaining the same spirit of faithful translation, prepared the original English draft with the assistance of a few dedicated devotees. May our readers, friends, and associates attain supreme bliss and peace by reading this book. This is our heartfelt prayer at the feet of the Lord. Durga Puja, Thursday, 6 October 2011. Publisher Acknowledgements Sri Ma Trust offers its sincere gratitude to all the sadhus, devotees, and friends who are helping in the propagation, financing, reviewing and distribution of these volumes. Special mention must be made of: Swami Swahananda, Vedanta Society, Hollywood, USA Swami Tapasananda, Ganges, Michigan, USA Neil Feldman, Rockville, Maryland, USA Dr. Kamal Gupta, Noida, India Bob Adjemian, Vedanta Press & Catalog, Hollywood, USA Edith Tipple, Santa Barbara, California, USA James Merryman, Seal Beach, California, USA Nitin Nanda, Sri Ma Trust, Chandigarh, India Our special thanks to Martin Gemperle, Paris, France for designing the cover of this book. M.’s Meetings with Sri Ramakrishna Sri M. (Mahendranath Gupta) met with Sri Rama-krishna from 1882 until his passing away in 1886. One hundred seventy-four meetings were recorded in the five volumes of Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita. Below is a list of dates and page numbers of visits in this volume. For a comprehensive list of all dates in all five volumes, please refer to the Complete Index of M.’s Visits to Sri Ramakrishna of this volume. 1882 Page Mar. 11, Sat. 1 Apr. 2, Sun. 4 Aug. 13, Sun. 21 Nov. 15, Wed. 23 Nov. 16, Thu. 28 Nov. 26, Sun. 33 1883 Feb. 18, Sun. 45 Mar. 9, Fri. 48 Apr. 22, Sun. 55 May 13, Sun. 65 May 27, Sun. 66 Jun. 2, Sat. 73 Jun. 10, Sun. 77 Jun. 17, Sun. 93 Jun. 25, Mon. 99 Jul. 14, Sat. 104 Aug. 18, Sat. 106 Sept. 22, Sat. 111 Sept. 23, Sun. 125 Oct. 10, Wed. 137 Oct. 16, Tue. 149 Dec. 18, Tue. 161 Dec. 19, Wed. 164 Dec. 22, Sat. 169 Dec. 26, Wed. 177 1884 Page Jan. 2, Wed. 180 Jan. 4, Fri. 184 Mar. 9, Sun. 187 May 24, Sat. 203 1885 Feb. 22, Sun. 227 Feb. 25, Wed. 247 Aug. 11, Tue. 265 Appendix 1882 Onwards 273 1884, Dec. 6, Sat. 335 1881, Jan. 1, Sat. 353 1881 361 1881, Dec. 3, Sat. 365 1881, Dec. 10, Sat. 371 1882, Jan. 1, Sun. 379 Life of Thakur as Told by Himself Three Classes of Evidence It has been a long-cherished desire to publish the life of Thakur from his childhood in serial form. After completing the Kathamrita, material will be available to write his life as he himself chronicled it in six or seven volumes. In this regard three classes of evidence will be available. First: Direct and recorded on the same day: what Thakur Sri Ramakrishna said about his childhood, his states of sadhana (spiritual practices) and so on, and what his devotees recorded that very day. The life of Thakur as told by himself, published in Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, belongs to this class of evidence. Whatever M. saw Thakur do or heard him say, he recorded the same day or night in his diary. This kind of testimony is obtained only by direct seeing and hearing. As well, M. recorded the year, the date, the day of the week, and the lunar date. Second: Direct but unrecorded at the time of the Master. This is what devotees themselves heard Thakur say, which they later recalled and then described. This kind of testimony is also very good – the record of other avatars (Divine Incarnations) is generally of this kind – but twenty- four years have passed between now and Thakur’s passing. So there is greater possibility of mistake in such testimony of recollection than in that of a diary kept daily at the time of incidence. Third: Hearsay and unrecorded at the time of the Master. What one hears about Thakur's childhood or his states of sadhana from his contemporaries, such as Hriday Mukherji, Roy Chatterji, and other devotees; or what one hears about the life of Thakur from the residents of Kamarpukur, Jayrambati, Shyambazar, and from the circle of Thakur's devotees belongs to the third class of evidence. At the time of writing Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita, M. relied only on the first class of evidence, his daily diary. Were he to have published Thakur's life in serial form, he would have relied mainly on such first-class evidence. In other words, the contents of Thakur’s life would have been written relying only on his own words. Mahendranath Gupta Calcutta, 1317 B.Y., A.D. 1910 Prayer Om Thakur, our beloved Father! This day we open this centre named Sri Ramakrishna Sri Ma Prakashan Trust (Sri Ma Trust) to propagate your holy name to all people of the world in our humble way for the peace and happiness of all. Yourself, accompanied by the Holy Mother and your beloved disciples like Swami Vivekananda and revered ‘M.’, do bless us; be always with us; do guide us in the right direction. By this unselfish work, by this labour of love may we realise your real nature, God-incarnate on earth! May we have peace and happiness real; may all beings of the universe be peaceful and happy; may the entire universe be the abode of peace and happiness real and eternal! I am your humble son and servant, Swami Nityatmananda Civil Lines, Rohtak December 20, 1967 Section I Sri Ramakrishna with Devotees Chapter I Sri Ramakrishna dances with devotees in the joy of ecstatic love at Balaram’s house It is about 8 or 9 p.m., seven days after the Dolayatra.