THE WONDER THAT IS SRÎ RÂMAKRISHNA An English translation by Swâmî Bhâskarânanda of the Bengali book Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ by Akshaykumâr Sen. PREFACE Akshay Kumâr Sen’s Bengali book Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ is quite popular among Bengali-speaking readers of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda literature. I have translated this book into English at the request of one of my close friends who lives in Canada. The book contains many authentic anecdotes about Srî Râmakrishna and his teachings, some of which are not to be found in other books. But some of the author’s views on how the mind functions, etc, may not be acceptable to traditional Hindu scholars. These views, by the author’s own admission, are based on his own understanding and experience, and not necessarily on the scriptures. Nevertheless, this book is valuable because it is written by one who had the good fortune to have seen Srî Râmakrishna and associated with him more or less closely. In the publication of this book the following persons have helped immensely, and I acknowledge their loving assistance with deep gratitude. Ramakrishna Math, Belur, for permission to translate the book into English. Charles Scott Wirth for computer typesetting the manuscript and helping with the front cover. Devra Freedman for proofreading and editing. I hope this book will be helpful to those for whom it is intended. Swâmî Bhâskarânanda Vedanta Society of Western Washington Seattle, Washington 98102, U.S.A. 2 INTRODUCTION As mentioned in the preface, this is an English translation of the Bengali book entitled Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ written by Akshaykumâr Sen. He is famous as the author of Srî Srî Râmakrishna Punthi, a book about Srî Râmakrishna written in Bengali verses. Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ is the only book written by him in prose. This book has great historical value so far as the history of Râmakrishna -Vivekânanda literature is concerned. Through this book Akshaykumâr Sen has tried to present Srî Râmakrishna as the divine incarnation of this age. Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ was published by the author in 1910, eight years after the first part of the Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Kathâmrita was published by Swâmî Trigunâtîtânanda. At that time not many had accepted Srî Râmakrishna as a divine incarnation. Akshaykumâr Sen was one of the householder devotees of Srî Râmakrishna. His exact birth date is not known to us. But considering the fact that he passed away on December 7th, 1923. at age 73, he must have been born around 1850. As a young man he was employed as a tutor (?) in the renowned Tagore family at Jorâsânko in Calcutta. There he came to know Debendranâth Mazumdâr, a devotee of Srî Râmakrishna. Debendranâth and Akshaykumâr went together to Mahima Chakraborty’s home in Cossipore on the outskirts of Calcutta, where Akshaykumâr for the first time met Srî Râmakrishna, who had come there on invitation. Akshaykumâr felt very much attracted to the saint. But he did not have the opportunity of touching Srî Râmakrishna’s feet even though he was very eager to do so. However, according to Swâmî Gambhirânanda’s Srî Râmakrishna-Bhaktamâlikâ, on January 1st, 1886, at the Cossipore country house, he got the opportunity to touch Srî Râmakrishna’s feet for the first time. Before touching his feet, Akshaykumâr had put two Champaka flowers on Srî Râmakrishna’s feet. As soon as he touched the saint’s feet Akshaykumâr’s mind was overwhelmed by an intense spiritual ecstasy. Unable to withstand the impact of that spiritual experience, the limbs of his body became temporarily contorted and he fell to the ground. Nearly 24 years after the passing away of Srî Râmakrishna, Akshaykumâr Sen wrote the Srî Srî Râmakrishna-Mahimâ. Swâmî Bhâskarânanda Seattle 2002 3 CHAPTER I Pâthak and Prabodh, two actors of the Calcutta stage, looked upon Girish Ghosh, the famous playwright and actor of Bengal, as their mentor. Both Pâthak and Prabodh had had the good fortune to meet Srî Râmakrishna Paramahamsa when he came to see the play “Chaitanya-Lîlâ” at their theater. They even had the opportunity to salute him by touching his feet at that time. Pâthak (to Prabodh): You see Prabodh, I’ve taken many drugs (narcotics) in my life. Whenever I tried one it first gave me a pretty good high; and I enjoyed it for a while. Then it would go flat, wouldn’t work any more, So, I had to try a new one. Thus one after another quite a few of them have failed. The only one left for me now is my hemp smoking. But I’m afraid, this one will also meet the same fate. In this manner Pâthak and Prabodh went on talking with each other while smoking. In course of their conversation their topic gradually shifted to Srî Râmakrishna Paramahamsa. Pâthak (to Prabodh): You see, brother, this Paramahamsa—whom Girish Bâbu looks upon as his guru—seems to be a pretty good fellow, a good Sâdhu (holy man). Unlike other Sâdhus, he doesn’t have matted hair, he doesn’t wear ochre robes, nor does he smear his body with holy ashes. He doesn’t have any false pride either. He is so humble that whenever he meets people he salutes them first! Remember how he looks? His lips are a little reddish; his eyes are so bright, and his full face has some kind of glow. Once you see him you feel the urge to bow down and salute him. His words are so sweet and his voice is so pleasant! And I’ll tell you my friend, I’ve never heard anyone sing so sweetly! Our theater has so many good singers now, and it’s had quite a few good ones in the past. I’ve heard them all, but none of them can hold a candle to the Paramahamsa. Now they all praise him. Prabodh (to Pâthak): The Paramahamsa has another wonderful ability. I’ve heard from others that while he was the priest in Rânî Râsmani’s temple, his loving worship pleased the Divine Mother so much that She appeared before him. Now, whenever he wants, he gets the vision of the Divine Mother and talks to Her. The day when he came to our theater, as soon as he set his eyes on the actresses he fainted, saying, ‘O my blissful Mother! O my blissful Mother!’ Then regaining partial consciousness he started muttering something strange and unintelligible. Pâthak (to Prabodh): That’s not fainting, my dear friend, that’s called Samâdhi. And what you call muttering is the way he talks to the Divine Mother. He sees the Divine Mother in all women. That’s why he behaved that way. I’ve heard that he knows everything. The Divine Mother tells him everything. He never had any formal education, but he excels all the big and famous pundits in knowledge. Prabodh (to Pâthak): He is not educated. How is it possible for him to excel the pundits? Pâthak (to Prabodh): Don’t you remember that he talks with the Divine Mother? Do you think he is like any other ordinary person? He doesn’t even have to say much to the pundits. Let me tell you what happens. With great enthusiasm the pundits come to him from far and away places and start arguing with him vehemently. When their arguing reaches the highest pitch, the Paramahamsa simply touches them with his little finger. At his touch, the pundits lose all their wits and become speechless. Prabodh (to Pâthak): Then what happens? 4 Pâthak (to Prabodh): What else? Their shouting and roaring having been silenced, some of them fold their hands and start chanting hymns in adoration of the Paramahamsa. Some others fall flat at his feet. Some say, “Please grant us divine consciousness!” Others go on shedding tears, and so on! Prabodh (to Pâthak): But, my friend, they must see something strange, like spiritual visions about him, to behave that way. Have you heard from anyone what these people see when the Paramahamsa touches them? Pâthak (to Prabodh): Yes, I’ve heard that some of them see the vision of Lord Shiva, some see the Divine Mother Kâlî, some see Lord Krishna, and others have some spiritual experience that they are unable to describe. So many arrogant people have become subdued after coming in contact with the Paramahamsa! Remember how in front of our very eyes Girish Bâbu became utterly transformed! Girish Bâbu is no ordinary person! Due to his pride he would never bow down to anybody! He even avoided going to his relatives’ homes lest he had to salute his uncles and other relatives. He was a staunch atheist. Even if attacked by a tiger, to save himself he wouldn’t pray or utter the name of God! The mere sight of holy people used to irritate him. He would chop down and destroy the clay images of gods and goddesses! You all know how he verbally abused the Paramahamsa when he first met him at our theater. After that, as soon as the Paramahamsa chanted a mantra and touched him, Girish Bâbu became completely subdued. Now he looks upon the Paramahamsa as God. Prabodh (to Pâthak): Do you know anyone else who has been transformed? Pâthak (to Prabodh): Sure! The other day Shashadhar Tarkachudâmani (a famous pundit of Bengal) came and stirred up the entire city of Calcutta with his oratory. Anyone who heard him speak even once, couldn’t stop praising him highly. The entire city became crazy about him; every day he’d be invited to speak at one place or the other! Then one day the Paramahamsa went to see him at his home, touched him, and said something.