Born as Gadadhar Chattopadhyay on February 13, 1836, Ramakrishna Paramhansa was a mystic and a saint in 19th century Bengal known for his love for Goddess Kali. Experienced in several spiritual ecstasies since a tender age, his devotion and admiration among people would lead Swami Vivekananda to start the Ramakrishna Order and the Ramakrishna Mission later in life.
A mystic, whose religious beliefs and worldview contained elements of Bhakti, Tantra and Vedanta, he found that Hinduism, Christianity and Islam all move towards the same God or divine, though using different paths. Ramakrishna died in the early morning hours of August 16, 1886 at a garden house in Cossipore after a prolonged suffering from throat cancer. He was survived by his disciples and his wife Sarada Devi.
On Ramakrishna Paramhansa's 133rd death anniversary, here's looking at a few of his most famed sayings on life, God and worldviews.
-- Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing.
-- One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous.
-- Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God.
-- As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone.
-- To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end.
-- God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.
-- God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is as good as worshipping God.
-- Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then through his grace one realize him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you.
-- Many are the names of God and infinite the forms through which He may be approached.
-- Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God.
-- He is born in vain who, having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realise God in this very life.
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