All World
Gayatri Pariwar

   Practicing different kinds of Sadhanas of various spiritual traditions and mastering them - was an unprecedented experiment of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. When he started the worship of Shri Rama, he began to behave like Hanuman, and uttering the sacred name of Rama- Raghuveer, he would climb onto trees, pluck fruits, bite into them and throw them away. He stopped the sadhana only after reaching a state in which he could see Rama in every creature and in every atom of the universe. Once he started the worship of Shri Krishna through Sakhi-bhav. Those who worship Shri Krishna with this feeling begin to see themselves as Gopis and dress like women. Ramakrishna also began to do sadhana in a similar manner. To blend into the form of Krishna’s ‘Sakhi’, he grew his hair and plaited it. He also began to wear a nose ring, applied lampblack to his eyes, applied vermillion and decorated himself with lipstick. In deep states of trance, he would begin to call out loudly- ‘Where is Lalita? Where is Vishakha? I am in a pitiable state. Without your grace, I cannot see Radhika and without her, I cannot reach Sri Krishna’.

While doing this sadhana as per ‘Sakhi Sampradaya’, Sri Ramakrishna began to develop feminine changes in his physical body. His voice began to turn sweet and soft. Nobody could recognize him on hearing his voice. After a few days, even his gait changed. There developed breast-like swellings on his chest and his footsteps were laid softly and carefully like a woman. This state of sadhana is evidence that when someone performs worship with complete involvement and passion, the entire personality including the physical features undergoes transformation. After stopping the sadhana, with ‘Sakhi bhav’, it took months for Thakurji to regain his normalcy.

After having tried the path of devotion, he began the sadhana of Vedanta. The pinnacle of this sadhana is to reach the state of ‘Soham’ and ‘Aham Brahmasmi’. He also tried the sadhanas related to various traditions like –Tantric, Bangala, Baul, Vaishnav, Shakta etc. After having done sadhanas belonging to several traditions, he had the concrete realization that even though the paths look different, there is no difference at the fundamental level of the goals. He took initiation into the Khalsa Panth and understood its underlying principles. One day, a thought arose in him to understand what the difference between a Hindu and Muslim was and decided to find out. He took permission of his favorite deity Mother Bhavani to do the experiment on himself. There lived a Sufi saint in the village of Tamtama. He went to the Sufi saint and took initiation into the Sufi way of sadhana for himself. After doing the sadhana for 3 days, his entire demeanor changed. He ceased to identify himself as a Hindu. He stopped going to the temple and even refrained from partaking the prasad of Mother Kali. During those days of sadhana, somebody said that according to Islam, if one kills a non-Muslim, then he would attain heaven. He asked Ramakrishna if he would kill a non-Muslim.

Ramakrishna replied, ‘Kafir (non-Muslim) does not reside outside, but is within us. Anger, lust, greed, pride etc are the foreign elements within our being. Only when you destroy them can you obtain the grace of Allah. Only knowledge and power give peace to man. There can be no other beauty or apsara who can give him continuous pleasure and peace.’ He also tried the path of Christian form of worship and sadhana. After having learnt and understood the secrets of various paths of worship, he got rooted firmly in his own nature. The liberated souls do not have an independent nature of their own. They are so entirely submerged in the consciousness of the Supreme Soul that their ego-based identity becomes acutely sensitive and transparent. Based on the temperament and level of the sadhak who approaches them, they appear to the sadhak at the same level. They become like a mirror, a crystal idol that merely reflects the form and color of what is present in front of them.

The Sadhana learnt from Totapuri

Sri Ramakrishna continued exploring the various paths of sadhana. These scenes were visible to Shriram seated in his puja chamber like live transmission. He could see sadhaks, sanyasis, fakirs, Christian missionaries, etc arriving at the temple of Dakshineshwar. One day, a leader of seven hundred naga sadhus, a sanyasi named Totapuri arrived at the temple premises. His fame had spread far and wide. In the lunar month of Paush, he stayed at Dakshineshwar after completing his holy dip in the Gangasagar. He looked at Sri Ramakrishna and asked – ‘Will you do some sadhana?’

‘If Mother says so, I will do’ replied Ramakrishna with child-like innocence. Totapuri thought that he might have to seek the permission of his biological mother, and hence asked him to go to her. Ramakrishna sat in front of Mother Kali and sought her permission. He received an affirmative reply from Her. He again asked Her, ‘Who will teach me the sadhana?’ Mother replied, ‘The person who has come to teach you Vedanta will teach you sadhana also.’ Ramakrishna went and reported the conversation verbatim to Totapuri. He smiled and said, ‘If you have to receive teaching from me, then you have to become a Sannyasi.’ Ramakrishna asked with the same simplicity, ‘What has to be done to become a Sannyasi?’ Shriram seated in the presence of his guiding power, was experiencing all this conversation as though he himself was talking to Totapuri, in the form of Ramakrishna. Totapuri explained to him about sannyas and said that he had to perform shraddha, homa, tarpan, etc. He would have to wear saffron clothes and be a wandering monk. Ramakrishna replied, ‘I accept everything; but can you do something such that I can become a sannyasi without wearing saffron clothes. I cannot go to any other place. My mother is alive and she has no other son to take care of her. Hence I cannot leave her alone.’

Totapuri agreed to this. Preparations were made for initiating him into sannyas. Shikha, sacred thread, rosary etc were given up. Climbing the funeral pyre, shraaddha, tarpan etc were also performed. He took the vow to renunciate everything. After the initiation, Totapuri imparted spiritual instruction and tried to induce him into the state of samadhi. He removed a bead from the rosary and asked Ramakrishna to sit in the lotus pose. Totapuri touched Ramakrishna’s forehead, in the middle of the eyebrows, with a crystal. He pressed the crystal a little harder and Ramakrishna entered into the state of Samadhi. He became unconscious. The pulse and heart beat were as usual but he was unconscious.

Totapuri was slightly worried at this situation. He was afraid lest Ramakrishna leave his body. He looked after the sadhak with utmost care. Two days passed and it was the dawn of the third day, but there was no change in Ramakrishna’s condition. Totapuri told his senior disciples that if a sadhak does not come back to normal condition within three days, it becomes difficult for the body to receive the soul – consciousness back into itself.

Thakur! You are far ahead

The disciples said, ‘But Gurudev, there are no signs of deterioration on Ramakrishna’s body; the breathing pattern is normal; the pulse is beating at the normal rate; there is no indication of decomposition of the body.’ Totapuri was not worried. He was however astounded. He did not know what to do. He tried to do everything a Guru could to get his disciple out of samadhi, but in vain. He sat back tired and defeated. Instantly something occurred to him and he went close to Ramakrishna’s ear and said, ‘He for whom you have waited is here.’ Ramakrishna sat up instantly as though someone had pulled him up. He became restless and eager and asked, ‘Where is he? Where is he?’ Totapuri replied, ‘He will be reaching here.’ He said again, ‘Thakur, you are far ahead of me. You are a great being. What I have not been able to attain after 40 years of intense penance, you have attained that state within a day. You are great.’ Totapuri was a staunch believer of Vedantic Path. He did not believe in idol worship. After witnessing the miraculous spiritual attainment of his disciple, be bowed to the idol of Mother Kali in Dakshineshwar temple.

The message through which Totapuri got Ramakrishna out of samadhi was related to Narendra (Narendranath Dutta who later became famous as Swami Vivekananda). The day Narendra came in contact with Ramakrishna, he hugged him close to his chest. Ramakrishna cried piteously like a parent who had found his long lost son. Narendra was then looking out for employment. At the same time he had an intense aspiration for liberation. This was more intense than his hunger and hence he kept wandering amongst sadhus. When he reached Ramakrishna, the Master recognized the disciple and took him into his fold, thus ending his search.

Have you seen God?

Narendra asked, ‘Have you seen God? The reply came instantly, ‘Do you want to see?’ Narendra had posed this question to innumerable saints and sadhus. Nobody had replied with this kind of assurance and confidence. There were people who said, ‘Yes, I have seen’, but there was no conviction in their words. There were others who said that if they admit that they have seen God, then it would be like advertising their status, and if they did not reply in the affirmative, then the reply would be wrong. Hence they preferred to keep mum. They merely asked Narendra to express his doubts and that they would try to remove them.

Narendra had asked the same question to Maharishi Debendranath Tagore, the father of poet Rabindranath Tagore. Maharishi Debendranath was relaxing in a round-bottomed boat afloat in the river. Narendranath jumped into the river and swam to the boat. He asked the Maharishi about God the moment he climbed on to the boat. Maharishi was taken aback by Narendra’s question. He felt as though someone was holding his collar and demanding an answer. Narendra had just expressed his desire eagerly and had no intention of scaring anyone, but his eagerness had startled a Yogi. Maharishi said, ‘Why don’t you take a seat first. Sit peacefully and I will reply to your question.’ This behaviour itself made Narendra feel that his answer could not be found here. So, Narendra returned from there saying – ‘You need not reply; I have got the answer’.

Narendra’s quest for God ended at the doorstep of Ramakrishna Paramahansa. He said to Narendra, ‘Whatever you have to ask, go and ask the Mother. Don’t tell me anything.’ When Ramakrishna made this offer, Narendra’s mind was filled with the worries of his familial responsibities. However, he did go and stood in front of the Mother’s idol at the behest of his Guru, but could not ask for any worldly boon from Her. He was so engrossed in looking at the charming form of Mother Kali that he forgot about asking for anything. He went back without expressing any desire. Ramakrishna sent him to the temple two more times. Narendra came back in the same manner both the times. The Guru said, ‘Do the work of Mother and she will herself take care of you. Your family will never feel lack of their essential needs.’

Thakur left his mortal body five years after meeting Narendra. Leaving his body was also like a part of the Divine play. One day, he told a disciple, ‘Listen to me. I will not be able to talk to people anymore. Hence, I have requested Mother to give power to Narendra, Raja (Rakhal Maharaj), Tarak, Babu (Baburam), Yogin, Shashi and other disciples. From now onwards, these people will impart spiritual instructions to devotees’. Ramakrishna experienced throat pain a few days after making this announcement. The pain increased so much that he could hardly swallow anything. The disease became more severe. When devotees suggested treatment, Ramakrishna replied, ‘This is Mother’s desire. If She wants, the disease will be cured. Otherwise, no amount of treatment will restore my health.’

The curtain falls (Leela Samvaran)

The real reason behind not undergoing treatment was the cruelty involved in the preparation of medicines. Devotees suggested that he use medicines in the preparations of which the cruelty to animals was not involved. Thus Homeopathy and Ayurvedic treatment was started. There was no improvement even then. His condition began to deteriorate further. One day, Thakur said, ‘If the disease cannot be cured, then what is the need to take all this trouble? Why should I trouble the Mother?’ That day, Thakur did not even eat his meals. He returned the plate sent by Mother Sharadamani. She asked the disciples to have courage and said that Thakur had decided to leave his mortal sheath. It was the day of 16th August 1886. Ramakrishna appeared normal all day. He ate a sumptuous meal in the evening. After it was past midnight, around 1 AM, in the night, he decided to pull the curtain of the divine play. His disciples took a vow to shoulder the responsibilities given to each of them and then the mortal remains were buried with great love and devotion.

Shriram seated in the puja room was witnessing and traveling through these scenes in silence. When he regained normal consciousness, he saw his angelic guide in front of him. He felt fatigued as he came out of his memories. The Master extended his right hand and placed his thumb in between Shriram’s eyebrows and the other four fingers on the top of his head, which in spiritual parlance, is known as the seat of Sahasrar Chakra or Brahma Randhra. This touch of his master removed all disturbances from the mind of Shriram. His being was filled with renewed enthusiasm. A new world presented itself before him. In that world, apart from Gurudev and himself, he experienced the divine light enveloping the puja room, and a divine fragrance spreading in the room.



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