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Reminiscences of Sargachhi
SRIMAT SWAMI SUHITANANDA JI (Continued from previous issue. . .) 63
4.3.61 (Cont...)
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Even Master Mahashaya1 was against work. He used to say, ‘God comes first and work comes after that.’ He admitted the importance of work when Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi affirmed it; but he didn’t give up his own view.
It is true that if one works without clearly understanding the Reality behind this world, then work turns into a bondage. But if one understands Reality and works selflessly, then his inclination for work gradually disappears. This is precisely the reason why Swamiji prescribed for us the path of work. But if, along with this, the aspirant does not have bhakti, yoga, and the discrimination of jnana, then he cannot progress on the spiritual path. Unless he becomes न प्रहृष्त्तप्र्यं प्राप् “one who does not rejoice on receiving what is pleasant”, (Gita 5:20) what will he achieve by becoming त्त्वत्त्वक्तदेरसेत्त्वतत्वयं, “resorting to a secluded place (Gita 13:10)? When he sits for meditation, as soon as the mind quietens a little, impulses for work well up from within like bubbles, one after another, and he begins to think, ‘Suchand-such work has not been done.’ Even if he meditates, there may lurk in the mind a hankering for honour.
After seeing a little light or some divine form, many feel that they have achieved everything; very few can go up to the end कत्चिनमायं त्वेत्ति तत्त्वतः “one perchance knows Me in reality” (Gita 7:3). उद्धरेदातमनाऽऽतमान नातमानमत्वसाद्ेत् । आतमैत्व ह्ातमनवो रन्रातमैत्व ररपरातमनः।। (Gita 6:5) “Uplift
your lower self by your higher self. Do not downgrade yourself, for you alone are your own friend, you alone are your own enemy.”
People believe in ‘God’s will’ or ‘Fate written on our forehead’ without understanding it. How can they understand? Mantu’s father is a man of character and a
The author, one of the Vice-Presidents of the Ramakrishna Order, presents here his conversations with Swami Premeshananda (1884-1967), a disciple of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi.
scholar! But when he reads the Bhagavatam, people offer him a pittance, as if to a beggar. In contrast, the profligate son of the zamindar lives like a king. People are therefore led to ascribe these different circumstances to predestination. In society, a person dressed in a suit like an Englishman is admired more than an honest pundit. The present social conditions have led to this sorry state of affairs. परमातमा समात्हतः (Gita 6:7) “The Supreme Self is the object of constant realization”— one must go up to the end; कत्चिनमायं त्वेत्ति तत्त्वतः (Gita 7:3) “One perchance knows Me in reality”—it won’t do if the aspirant gets stuck at the stage of jyoti darshan, seeing the light within and assuming it as the final stage. ज्ानत्त्वज्ानतृप्ातमा (Gita 6:8) “One whose heart is filled with satisfaction by wisdom and realisation” — It is not enough just to know about the path, and the risks and attainments associated with that path; one should also have conviction and a clear understanding. It is as if I think I know everything about a country by studying its map and repeatedly listening to descriptions of its topography.
6.3.61
“Who looks with equal regard on the good and the sinful.” One cannot treat them equally without understanding the mechanism. This body, mind, and intellect are like the chariot, and the Atman is the charioteer. What can the charioteer do if his chariot is defective! He has inherited this mind and intellect according to his past actions; and there is no knowing when his karma began. The poor fellow is helpless; he can attain same-sightedness if he is established in this attitude. दुःखसयं्वोगत्त्व्वोग (Gita 6:23) “Severance from the contact of suffering”— in our ordinary state we are linked to suffering; but when we delight in the Self, आतमरत्तः (Gita 3:17), then contact with suffering is severed. Or, a yogi who rejoices in the Self remains detached from suffering even if he has contact with it; i.e., the cause of that suffering cannot touch him. Mathuradas was shivering in cold with goose bumps on his skin. Yet, when asked, he replied, “There is no shaking within.” ब्रह्मभूतम् (Gita 6:27), “He becomes identified with Brahman.” By constantly cultivating this steadiness of mind, the brahmins make it their nature.
From outside some people appear to be in a very high state – always calm and content with the minimum. But, not having any internal practice, they are soon overpowered by tamas and become like dead logs of wood. They mistake the means for the end. Therefore, unless the aspirant combines the practice of jnana, karma, bhakti and yoga, he can have a quick downfall in any of the paths without even having an inkling of it.
(to be continued...)
References : 1) The householder disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
North Kolkata: The Leela Kshetra
SWAMI CHIDEKANANDA
Between 1881 and 1886 — the last five years of Sri Ramakrishna’s sojourn on earth — twelve of the sixteen direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna lived in North Kolkata. They were either born there or had moved there for education or work. In hindsight we can see the Divine Mother’s plan in placing these young men in this region of Kolkata, thus making it possible for them to frequently meet Sri Ramakrishna and come under his life-transforming influence. The author narrates this fascinating story in this and three subsequent articles.
When he was suffering from throat cancer, Sri Ramakrishna once told his householder devotee Mahendranath Gupta, “This illness is showing who belong to the inner circle and who to the outer. Those who are living here, renouncing the world, belong to the inner circle; and those who pay occasional visits and ask, ‘How are you, sir?’ belong to the outer circle. … When God assumes a human body for the sake of His devotees, many of His devotees accompany Him to this earth. Some of them belong to the inner circle, some to the outer circle, and some become the suppliers of His physical needs.”1
This article discusses three things: 1) the spiritual power of an incarnation’s inner circle and how visiting their homes benefits spiritual aspirants; 2) why Sri Ramakrishna visited Balaram Bose’s house in Northern Kolkata more than one hundred times in his final years (1881-86); 3) rare research findings of the homes and addresses of twelve of Sri Ramakrishna’s monastic disciples in Northern Kolkata.
Spiritual power of an Incarnation’s inner circle
Why is it necessary to know where the monastic disciples of an incarnation lived? The answer is: ‘power of association’. Learning about the places which an incarnation visited helps us to purify our minds and to make spiritual progress. One of the spiritual practices of Mahendranath Gupta (hereafter Sri M.), the chronicler of the Kathamrita or The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, was to bow down to holy places whenever he passed by them. Every day, on his way to his school, he would bow down at the place on Bechu Chatterjee Street where Sri Ramakrishna’s elder brother once conducted a Sanskrit Tolle. He would also bow down to the house of the Mitra family at Jhamapukur, where Sri Ramakrishna once officiated as a priest. Observing his companions’ surprise, M., would tell them, “Do you know that anyone who walks through this street will become a yogi?”2
In other words, places associated with Sri Ramakrishna’s direct disciples become sacred places for spiritual seekers. Each of these
The author is a sannyasi of the Ramakrishna Order and is serving at Advaita Ashrama, Kolkata. swamichidekananda@gmail.com
Name Date of Birth Kolkata Residence
Baburam Ghosh (Swami Premananda) December 10, 1861 Balaram Bose's House, 7, Girish Ave, Sovabazar, Baghbazar, Kolkata
Nityaniranjan Ghosh (Swami Niranjanananda)
Harinath Chattopadhya (Swami Turiyananda) Narendranath Datta (Swami Vivekananda)
Rakhal Chandra Ghosh (Swami Brahmananda) Probably in August 1862 With uncle in Ahiritola
January 3, 1863 Bagbazaar, 10/1 Bose Para Lane
January 12, 1863
January 21, 1863 105, Vivekananda Rd, Maniktala, Azad Hind Bag, Kolkata, West Bengal 700006 Kansaripara: Presently 36, Tarak Pramanik Road (Old name 54 Baranasi Ghosh Street), arrived in 1875
Sashi Bhushan Chakrabarty (Swami Ramakrishnananda)
Gangadhar Gangopadhyay (Swami Akhandananda) Sharat Chandra Chakrabarty (Swami Saradananda) Sarada Prasanna Mitra (Swami Trigunatitananda) July 13, 1863
September 30, 1864
December 23, 1865
January 30, 1865 125 Amherst Street (crossing of Mahatma Gandhi Rd and Amherst), presently 26 Patua Tola Lane, northwest of Sealdah
presently in the area of 38/2 or 38/4 Bose Para Lane, Baghbazar 125 Amherst Street (crossing of Mahatma Gandhi Rd and Amherst), presently 26 Patua Tola Lane, northwest of Sealdah 164, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700004 (Kolkata Residence)
Kali Prasad Chandra (Swami Abhedananda) October 2, 1866 21 Nimu Goswami Lane, Ahiritola, North Calcutta,
Subodh Chandra Ghosh (Swami Subodhananda) November 8, 1867 41 Sankar Ghose Lane, 700 009, Shyamapukur
monastic disciples was a spiritual giant whose spiritual powers were largely overshadowed by the glory and spiritual brilliance of Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, and Swami Vivekananda.
In the Gospel, Sri Ramakrishna often tells the parable of the eggplant seller who offers only nine seers of eggplant for an expensive jewel. The lesson is that only a master jeweller can understand the true value of an expensive jewel.
Likewise, Swami Vivekananda, a master jeweller of the spiritual realm, gives us the true spiritual estimate of his monastic brother disciples. In Talks with Swami Vivekananda, Sarat Chandra quotes Swamiji: “Sri Ramakrishna was a wonderful gardener. Therefore, he has made a bouquet of different flowers and formed his Order… Know each of those who are here to be of great spiritual power. Because they remain shrivelled before me, do not think them to be ordinary souls. When they will go out they will be the cause of the awakening of spirituality in people. Know them to be part of the spiritual body of Sri Ramakrishna, who was the embodiment of infinite religious ideas. I look
Family Status Education at Kolkata
Father - Taraprasanna Ghosh & Mother - Mangini Devi belonged to an aristocratic family.
Father - Ambika Charan Ghosh When Niranjan was in his teens, he was sent to his uncle's house at Ahiritola, for higher education.
Father - Chandranath Chattopadhya was an orthodox brahmin who worked for a British firm. Father - Viswanath Datta was a wealthy lawyer Sent to North Kolkata to continue education; first admitted to Banga Vidyalaya, then to Aryan School, & finally to Metropolitan School
Kambuliatola Bengali School & then General Assembly run by Christian missionaries. Metropolitan School (Simla), Scottish Church College.
Father was a wealthy landlord in Shikra Kulingram Kolkata Training Academy & later Metropolitan School (Shyampukur).
Father - Ishwar was court pandit of Raja Indra Narayan Singh of Paikpara, North Calcutta
Father - Srimanta Gangopadhyay was a priest and Sanskrit teacher who practiced yoga and tantra.
Large family was partner in Druggist's Hall, a large foreign-medicine pharmacy
Father - Shivakrishna was a religious man and a rich landlord Went to Calcuta for higher English education, passed Calcutta University Entrance Exam, joined Albert College, & then studied at Metropolitan College.
Not known
Albert School and later Hare School, later admitted to Saint Xavier's College & then enrolled in Calcutta Medical College. Studied for four years in the Metropolitan Institution in North Kolkata from the 7th grade.
Father - Rasiklal Chandra was an English teacher in the Oriental Seminary.
Grandfather - Shankar Ghosh started family maintenance of Thanthania Kali Mandir. Govinda Seal's Nursery School, Jadu Pandita's Banga Vidyalaya, Sanskrit School at Hatibagan.
Albert Collegiate School, Metropolitan School.
upon them with that eye. See, for instance, Brahmananda, who is here—even I do not have the spirituality which he has. Sri Ramakrishna looked upon him as his spiritual son and he lived and walked, ate and slept with him. He is the ornament of our Math, our king. Similarly, Premananda, Turiyananda, Trigunatita, Akhandananda, Saradananda, Ramakrishanananda, Subodhananda and others—you may go round the world, but it is doubtful if you will find men of such spirituality and faith in God like them. They are each a centre of religious power and in time that power will manifest.”3
Five stages of an Incarnation’s life
The life and work of an incarnation unfolds in five stages. In the first stage, the incarnation lives like an ordinary individual but quickly experiences dissatisfaction with the world. In the second stage, the incarnation engages in intense spiritual practices. In the third stage, he attains spiritual perfection and then begins to help other suffering souls. In the fourth stage, sensing his impending departure
from this physical world, he begins to gather his disciples, to whom he can impart the fruits of his spiritual realisations, and who can later spread his teachings to the world. We see this clearly in the lives of Bhagawan Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Sri Chaitanya Dev. After his enlightenment, Buddha gathered ten principal disciples around him in Sarnath. Similarly, towards the end of his life, Jesus gathered twelve apostles. Finally, Sri Chaitanya Dev gathered six main disciples. And in the case of Sri Ramakrishna, he gathered sixteen monastic disciples around him. In the fifth and final stage, the incarnation leaves his body in the state of mahasamadhi.
In the fourth stage of Sri Ramakrishna’s life, he brought his young monastic disciples together during the last five years of his life (1881-86). Much before this, as he later explained, he would go to the roof of the Kuthi in Dakshineswar Temple garden, look towards Northern Kolkata, and cry out in his native Bengali “ore tora ke kothay aachis aay”4, “Oh, where are you all? Come to me!” Yet for many years they did not come! So why did Sri Ramakrishna look towards Northern Kolkata?
Amazingly, six of his monastic disciples were born in Northern Kolkata: Narendranath Datta in Simla, Subodh Chandra Ghosh in Shyamabazaar, Sarat Chandra Chakrabarty in Northern/Central Kolkata, Harinath Chattopadhya in Baghbazar, Gangadhar Gangopadhyay in Ahiritola and later shifted to
Baghbazar, and Kali Prasad Chandra in Ahiritola. The other six disciples would move from their villages to Northern Kolkata for further education or work. They were Rakhal Chandra Ghosh to Simla, Shashi Bhushan Chakrabarty to Northern Central Kolkata, Sarada Prasanna Mitra to Shyamabazar, Baburam Ghosh to Ahiritola and then Baghbazar, Nityaniranjan Ghosh to Ahiritola. Finally, Taraknath Ghosal (Swami Shivananda), who was nearly ten years older than his other brother disciples, Sri Ramakrishna in Kolkata would stay in Northern Kolkata during the week in connection with his work, and would return to his village in Barasat during the weekend.
Why North Kolkata?
During this period, Kolkata was the capital of India. And North Kolkata in particular, was the administrative centre and a cultural, economic, educational, literary, philosophical, and spiritual hub. This provided great scope for young people to develop their personality. A classic example of this is Kali Prasad Chandra who later became Swami Abhedananda. As a young boy, he received a traditional Sanskrit education and was interested in Indian philosophy. As a teenager, he attended the lectures of the great national leader Surendranath Banerjee, the famous Brahmo leaders Keshab Chandra Sen and Pratap Chandra Majumdar, and the Christian evangelist Reverend Kali Charan Banerjee. In 1882-83 Pandit Sashadhar Tarkachudamani, a well-known scholar, began to interpret
Hinduism from the scientific point of view and gave a series of lectures on the six systems of Hindu philosophy. Kali regularly attended these lectures in Albert Hall. Furthermore, he learned Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras from Kalibar Vedantavagish.5 Thus those who grew up in Northern Kolkata during this time had the rare opportunity to study and understand Indian philosophy from various angles. This constant search for higher thoughts left many of them dissatisfied with mere scholarship and they sought a spiritual teacher who had realised the truths spoken of in the scriptures.
North Kolkata’s advantage
The young disciples were teenagers living under parental restrictions and studying in secondary school or college. As Dakshineswar is about 13 kilometers away from North Kolkata, they could not make a quick visit to Dakshineswar unnoticed by their parents. Hence, they would visit mainly on weekends, often avoiding the notice of their parents or guardians. Furthermore, the young disciples did not have the money for round trip fare by carriage or boat.
The solution
Since he wanted his young disciples to visit him frequently, Sri Ramakrishna often made arrangements for their visit to Dakshineswar. But he needed a place in Kolkata where he could meet and interact with them freely. This he found in the house of his dear householder devotee Balaram Bose in Baghbazar. He called this home his baithak-khana or Parlour room. Eventually, in the last five years of his life, Sri Ramakrishna visited this house over 100 times! Balaram’s house became the central meeting place for devotees. Sri M. writes, “And so it happened that whenever the Master was at Balaram’s house, the devotees would gather there. It was the Master’s chief vineyard in Calcutta. It was here that the devotees came to know each other intimately.”6
Years later, Swami Premananda nicely expressed the love that Sri Ramakrishna bestowed on his future monastic disciples: “Oh, how can I explain to you how much he loved us! He would go to Calcutta in a carriage just so he could feed Purna. He would wait near the school where Purna went, send someone to bring the boy, then feed him delicacies…One day he was found waiting outside Balaram Babu’s house where I was staying. Balaram Babu was not at home, and the Master was hesitant to go inside, thinking he might not be welcomed. He had come to see me. Someone finally called him in. His love knew no bounds, and one drop of it completely filled us. Each one thus thought himself to be the most beloved of the Master.”7
The homes of the direct disciples, both monastic and lay, which Sri Ramakrishna visited are sacred spaces.Fortunately, many of these homes are still in existence. In these upcoming issues, we will explore these holy homes of both his monastic and lay disciples in the areas of Baghbazar, Shyambazar, and Simla.
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References
1) The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna [hereafter Gospel]. p. 933 2) They Lived with God. p.221 3) Talks with Swami Vivekananda. p. 392-93 4) Kathamrita, p. 1103, Gospel. p. 832, August 9, 1885. 5) They Lived with God. p. 443 6) Gospel. p. 724 7) They Lived with God. p. 184
Sri Ramanuja’s Inventive Arrangement
SRIRANGAM MOHANARANGAN
Sri Ramanuja, the great Acharya of Vedanta who propagated the glorious path of Srivaishnavism, had inventive solutions to the challenges of life. One such anecdote is about how he resolved the troubles of a daughter-in-law.
Sri Ramanuja wanted to become the disciple of Sri Alavandar, the head of Sri Vaishnavaite faith at Srirangam. But when he came to meet him, the guru had just left his body. So, Sri Ramanuja had to learn from the disciples of Sri Alavandar. He received his initiation into the Tirumantra or Ashtaksharamantra from Sri Periya Nambi. Hence, in a sense, Sri Periya Nambi was Sri Ramanuja’s guru.
Sri Periya Nambi had a daughter named Atthuzhaai. As he was not well-to-do, he was able to arrange only a very simple marriage for her. The poor arrangements and gifts displeased Atthuzhaai’s in-laws. When Atthuzhaai started living at her in-law’s place, they often expressed their disappointment to her face.
Atthuzhaai had to wake up very early in the morning, go to the river for a bath, and then begin her daily chores at home. As she was afraid to go out alone in the dark, she requested her mother-in-law to send someone to accompany her. But the mother-in-law retorted, “Oh! Your people should have arranged to send a servant also along with the marriage gifts while sending you here!” Atthuzhaai was deeply pained by this criticism of her father, for, she knew with what difficulty her father had managed to get her married. Later in the day, she came to her father and told him of her sorrow.
Unable to know what he could do, Sri Periya Nambi asked her to speak with Sri Ramanuja. To the disciples, a guru’s daughters are like their sisters. With such a relationship Atthuzhaai had always felt free and confident in her brother Sri Ramanuja’s presence. When Sri Ramanuja learnt of the in-laws’ displeasure with the marriage gifts, he calmly directed Sri Mudaliyandan, one of his main disciples, to accompany Atthuzhaai to her in-laws’ house as her servant.
Accordingly, Sri Mudaliyandan began to perform all the menial house-hold chores at Atthuzhaai’s in-law’s house. He went about it with the same one-pointed attention and devotion that he had for his scriptural studies. Now Atthuzhaai’s in-laws were greatly perturbed. The mother-in-law was terrified that they would suffer some great tragedy for receiving labour-service from a noble soul like Sri Mudaliyandan.
Rushing to Sri Periya Nambi, Atthuzhaai’s agitated in-laws asked why he choose to condemn them by sending a great scholar as a
(Continued on page 31...)
The author is a Tamil writer on culture and Hinduism and has done a comparative study of Nammalvar and Swami Vivekananda. He lives in Srirangam. ranganvmsri@gmail.com
