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Item Code: IDK751by Amrita M. Salm, Satchidananda Dhar and, Prasun Kumar DeHardcover (Edition: 2007)The Ramakrishna Institute of Culture ISBN 8185843929 Size: 10.0" X 7.5" Pages: 886 |
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times since 16th Feb, 2009The man whose image I here evoke was the consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people.
I myself am a devotee of Ramakrishna; I believe, or am at least strongly inclined to believe, that he was what his disciples declared that he was: an incarnation of God upon earth.
The story of Ramakrishna Paramahansa's life is a story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face. No one can read the story of his life without being convinced that God alone is real and that all else is an illusion. Ramakrishna was a living embodiment of godliness.
In addition to the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master, which have both been translated into English, this book, may be considered a complimentary work to them since it illustrates the life of Sri Ramakrishna, and was written by one of his direct disciples. It received the enthusiastic endorsement and encouragement of Swami Vivekananda and the blessings of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, which makes it all the more necessary to make the book available to the rest of the world.
Sheshadri Iyer, a non-Bengali devotee from Southern India, made an heroic attempt to translate Sri Sri Ramakrishna-Punthi into English. However, it was never published. After thoroughly analysing about a hundred pages and we acutely felt the necessity of publishing an authentic English version of the entire work. The present book is the outcome of the efforts made in that direction. Many dedicated people have been involved over the last four years in this translation in an effort to keep as much of the uniqueness of this book and its unknown contents available to English speaking devotees of Sri Ramakrishna. This book is meant for those who are eager to know every detail of the Master's life and message as interpreted by a directed by a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.
It must be remembered that this book was written over one hundred years ago. The author wrote it based on his personal experiences and events that he witnessed in addition to accounts given by relatives, neighbours and people known to Sri Ramakrishna. Akshay Kumar Sen's style of writing, relating an event in the Master's life and then giving a devotional and often times philosophical interpretation to it, make this book unique and gives the readers an opportunity to become completely absorbed in that moment of the Master's life. The author is often highly emotional, either exaggerating the praise or denunciation of a person, or a virtue or a vice. For poetic or emotional reasons this is also true when he refers to numbers, as in crores, millions, etc. in a few places we tried to tone down the author's language. However, to preserve the eloquence of his devotional expression we felt the prosaic ways of austere methods would not be true to the original nor would it appeal to the reader. All these factors need to be remembered as one reads this book. It is for this reason we chose the title A portrait of Sri Ramakrishna since it is the portrait of Sri Ramakrishna as painted by his disciple by his disciple, Akshay Kumar Sen.
Unlike The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna which consists of conversations between the Mater and his visitors as recorded by 'M.' this book, unfolds step by step, and vividly shows Sri Ramakrishna, the man and his divinity. Written in a spirit of complete dedication, unreserved faith and intense devotion, the author describes every aspect of his life, his divine lila enacted in a human form, beginning from the moment of his birth until the final moments of his play in a physical form came to an end.
To do justice to the original book written in the Punthi style, which traditionally uses archaic Bengali, coupled with the author's literary flair, and carried away by a flood of reverence and devotion to his Master, the translators had the impossible task of reverence task of rendering an authentic version to the best of their abilities. The task was easier said than done. A proper translation from one language to another is always beset with difficulties. In this instance, the task was compounded by several other factors : the original book was written in verse, making the translation all the more difficult. Secondly, the subject matter is about spiritual experiences and philosophical interpretations, which are difficult to explain no matter what the language. Thirdly, the author's devotional fervour and emotional outbursts are unfamiliar to most people and may appear as fanatical and excessive verbiage to many people of a rational and Western temperament. And lastly, due to the massive size of the work, 639 pages, it required many translators and this entailed the continual need for the consistent usage of terms and a flow to assure that the voice of the author was heard and not that of all the translators. All of these factors combined resulted in endless review, revisions, and re-editing. We apologize to the author for any wrongdoing on our part.
A further problem that the translators had to confront was how to translate certain Bengali words into would faithfully covey the sense. Often it was felt that the retention of the Bengali word in the English text and the explanation of its imports, denotation and connotation in the glossary was the best solution. Such words are in italics. Footnotes were used, when needed, to give more elaborate explanation. For some Hindu, especially those living in India, the explanation may appear obvious. The sole intention is to help others understand the culture context of the language. The use of some Bengali words were deliberately retained in order to maintain an atmosphere of a typical scenario in which some of the events took place and those words were evolved. For example, the words lila (divine play), jiva (an embodied soul), and avidya (ignorance, either cosmic or individual that is responsible for the non-perception of the Ultimate Reality) are continually used by the author and retained these words. A book of such a nature will contain many technical terms which can conveniently be explained in a footnote or the glossary. But there are other word which, if translated, would lose their impact, because every such word has evolved itself by usage and application as its basis, a concept developed through time, through the culture. With such words, to maintain the correct import, proper annotations were made. Throughout the book, the author refers to the book by the abbreviated Bengali title, Ramakrishna-Punthi or Punthi. We have retained his words in this instance, and as much as was possible throughout this translation. A few words more commonly known in the West, such as Mother Kali were used rather than the original word, Mother Shyama. We chose to use the word 'My Master' since it is used in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna and is familiar to most English readers. All song are original translations unless cited otherwise.
The introduction included in this book is brief and readers referred to the excellent introduction in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna for a more detailed explanation on the subject matter. Most readers are expected to be familiar with the Master's life before turning to A Portrait of Sri Ramakrishna. May this book bring as much joy to the readers as it has to all of us who were involved in its emergence.
The author, Akshay Kumar Sen, was born in Maynapur, a small village in the Bankura
district of Bengal in 1854. There are few details about his early life. His family was
devoted to Lord Krishna. Due to the poor economic conditions of his family, Akshay
received his education at the local village school. In an effort to improve his
financial position Akshay went to Calcutta to earn a living and became the private tutor
of the Tagore children living in Jorasanko, a locality of Calcutta.
Despite having been initiated by the family guru and practising japa and meditation,
Akshay became discouraged in his spiritual practices. Another employee of the Tagore
family, living at Jorasanko was Devendranath Majumdar, a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna. One
day Akshay overheard Devendra and Dhirendra, a member of the Tagore family speaking
about the Master. After six months, probably in 1885, Akshay requested Devendra to take
him to meet the Master at a celebration at Mahima Chakrabarty's house. The Master sang
songs to Akshay's Ishta and his heart was immediately captivated by Sri Ramakrishna
several times, he had opportunities to serve him and was blessed by him on Kalpataru
Day, January 1, 1886 when the Master whispered a mantra into his ear. He was also at the
Master's bedside, fanning him, at the request of Swami Vivekananda, the night the Master
entered into mahasamadhi.
The author describes his own appearance as frightening and accordingly Swami Vivekananda
gave Akshay the name 'Shakchunni Master', which literally means a female ghost wearing
bangles. Akshay was very proud of his name, since Swami only gave manes of endearment to
those close to him.
Akshay used to decorate the photograph of Sri Ramakrishna after his passing away with
sandalpaste and sing songs to the accompaniment of a one-stringed instrument. He had a
desire to write about the Master's life and was persuaded to do so by Devendranath
Majumdar. He expressed his desire to Swami Vivekananda who encouraged him and thus he
began to write in Bengali verse in 1887. After completing the first part of the book he
went Swami Vivekananda and read it to him. Swamiji was very moved by what he heard and
took Akshay to Holy Mother, who blessed him. Again, Holy Mother blessed him when him he
went to Kamarpukur. At that time Mother had him read the poem to some of the village
women who had known the Master and requested him to continue to write about the Mater.
In addition to meeting with many relatives and villagers to collect information about
the Master the author also received assistance from other direct disciples including
Swami Ramakrishnananda, Swami Niranjanananda and Swami Yogananda as well as Girish
Chadra Ghosh.
Swami Shvananda, Mahapurush Maharaj, second President of the Ramakrishna Order, said
that he had heard that at night Akshay would go to the bank of the Ganga and call to the
Master with a longing heart saying, 'please give me strength so that I can write
something about your precious life.' Then he would immediately feel inspired from within
and return to his room and start writing. Relatives of Akshay said that he would be
found in his room in a trance-like state while composing the Punthi.
Besides writing Sri Sri Ramakrishna-Punthi the author also wrote about the Master's
teachings in 1896 in a book entitled Padye Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsadever Upadesh
(the teaching of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in verse). In 1910 he wrote Sri Sri
Ramakrishna Mahima (the glory of Sri Ramakrishna) in question and answer form.
Before retiring to his village, the author worked for Upendrenath Mukhopadhyaya, another
disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, in the Basumati publication office in Calcutta. After
reading Sri Sri Ramakrishna Lila-prasanga (Sri Ramakrishna The Great Master) Akshay made
revisions to the Punthi and sent it to Swami Saradananda with the request that if he
wanted he could publish it. Despite his poverty Akshay did not take any of the profits
from the book. He spent the last days of his life quietly thinking about and worshiping
his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna. Akshay passed away in 1923 at the age of seventy-three his
bother, 'Please keep quiet now. I see the Master and the Mother.
A small temple is now located in his village where Sri Ramakrishna and Holy Mother are
worshipped. Akshay's contribution to spreading the name and glory of Sri Ramakrishna
continues and Swami Vivekananda's prophecy that his poem would be read throughout Bengal
just like the Mahabharata and Ramayana has been fulfilled.
The author wrote 'Nobody can precisely describe the lila of the Master with his devotees
or the fun enjoyed mutually by both the Master and his devotees. Only a hint can be
suggested.' Yet , the descriptions given by Akshay Sen of Sri Ramakrishna are both
unique and unparalleled in their detail and spiritual insight. After reading the first
edition of Akshay's book sent to America, Swami Vivekananda wrote to his
brother-disciple Swami Ramakrishna in 1895 :
Just know I read Akshay's book. Give him a hundred thousand hearty embraces from me.
Through his pen Shri Ramakrishna is manifesting himself. Blessed is Akshaya ! Let him
recite that Punthi before all. He must recite it before all in the Festival (Sri
Ramakrishna's Birthday celebration). Well, I do not find a single irrelevant word in it.
I cannot tell in words the joy I have experience by reading his book. Try all of you to
give the book an extensive sale. Then ask Akshaya to go from village to village to
preach. Well done Akshaya ! He (Sri Ramakrishna) is doing his work. Go from village to
village and proclaim to all Shri Ramakrishna's teachings, can there be a more blessed
lot then this ? I tell you, Akshaya's book and Akshaya himself must electrify the
masses. Dear, dear Akshaya, I bless you with all my heart, my dear brother. May the Lord
sit in your tongue ! Go and spread his teaching from door to door. There is no need
whatever of your becoming a Sannyasin Akshaya is the future apostle for the masses of
Bengal. Take great care of Akshaya; his faith and devotion have borne fruit.
(The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. VI, 1963, p. 334)
Like the original work, this book is divided into five parts and contains ninety-one
chapters. Almost each chapter begins with a short verse in praise of either Sri
Ramakrishna or Holy Mother or both of them. We have retained all the verses and as much
of the contents and the order of the original book including the Introduction by Swami
Vivekananda and the prelude (containing prayers to Sri Ramakrishna, the Guru, and the
Devotees). We have added footnotes for clarification, a rather extensive glossary and an
index. In Part IV, Chapter 29 and in Part V, Chapter 3 we have given our own translation
from the extracts that the author chose from the Katharita (the original book authored
by Sri 'M.', later translated into English and known as The Gospel of Sri
Ramakrishna).
Over two hundred persons are introduced by the author and some of the names appear as
many as fifty times to describe their lila with the Master. The author usually refers to
their caste as a way of furnishing information about their character, and then pointing
out particular praiseworthy traits which they acquired as a result of coming into direct
contact with Sri Ramakrishna. It must be remembered however, Akshay Sen, himself being a
Kayastha (the second highest caste in Indian society), felt conscious about the
superiority of his own caste and often referred to it. Throughout the book the author
repeats the phrase 'Oh my mind, now listen' It is his way of speaking to all of us, by
referring to himself, a style often found in such epics. To retain the original manner
in which this book was written we have not removed this phrase or its frequent
occurrence. At times, the reader will also notice that the author repeats the same idea
within a few lines for emphasis. This has also been retained to maintain the flow and
the style. The life of Sri Ramakrishna unfolds vividly and visually in the following
parts of the book :
Part I : Beings with the descriptions of the events prior to the Master's birth,
the interesting moments of his birth, his growing up in his native village in the
company of the villagers, mostly from the cowherd families, highly unnatural for a child
coming from a very orthodox Brahmin family, and attaining adulthood. This least-known
period of his life reminds the reader of Lord Krishna; his childhood lilas in Vrindavan
with the cowherd boys. Association with the young women in some households cannot but
help to revive the memories of the Gopis in Vrindavan. Losing his external consciousness
and slowly attaining the state of samadhi, an oft-repeated phenomenon witnessed
throughout his lifetime, were even evident in one form or the other in the child
Gadadhar.
Part II : Describes the Master's coming to Calcutta as an adult to assist his
elder brother Ramkumar as a priest and become a teacher in a Sanskrit school,
traditional roles for Brahmin men. Soon Gadadhar displays his apathy and indifference to
this way of life and his steadfast inclination towards things beyond this material
world. It is interesting to watch how he became a part of the manifestation of his
divinity. He comes in contact with Mathur Bishwas and then with Rani Rasmani, the
manager and founder of the temple complex, both of whom had the eyes to recognize his
uniqueness. Slowly, though reluctantly, Sri Ramakrishna in appointed the junior priest.
Thus the ground was set for the unfolding of his divine lila. At the untimely demise of
his brother the Master was offered the position as the main priest of the Kali temple.
He vigorously refused to accept it at the beginning but finally agreed. As an individual
or as a priest, he often committed acts unheard of and unusual, neither sanctioned by
the scriptures nor accepted by the customs of the time, sometimes even revolting to
ordinary human mind. After testing the Master's purity, Mathur was ever-tolerant of all
these apparent abnormalities and provided the Master with whatever was needed for his
sadhana. The hand of divine intervention is clearly evident here, especially in an age
when blind, senseless adherence to rituals often accompanied with haughtiness, was the
order of the day. During this period, for nearly twelve years, Sri Ramakrishna dedicated
himself entirely to sadhana, practically leaving no faith or spiritual practice
untouched, including Islam and Christianity. It was the first time in the history of
mankind that a real life demonstration of the harmony of religions or the doctrine of
equality among all religions was practiced and it is explained in detail.
Part III & Part IV : Both these parts colourfully describe the gradual gathering
of young men with pure and spiritual dispositions, all flocking around the half-literate
temple-priest hailing from an unknown village of Bengal. From the rooftop at
Dakshineshwar Sri Ramakrishna used to call his would-be devotees for whom he had waited
so long. This was the place of future activities which were to be carried out by these
men when the Master left his physical frame. Those who could hear his calls in their
hearts, came to him, some chose to remains as householders and others embraced the
monastic life and later on were the pioneers of the Ramakrishna order and spread his
message, that the purpose of life is to realize God and to serve God in man. One of them
was Narendranath, later known to the world as Swami Vivekananda. Many of the scenarios
described here are reminiscent of some of the chapter in the Gospel by Sri 'M.', but
told from another perspective and with more detail. Sri Ramakrishna's meetings with some
of the most noteworthy men of the time, keshab Chandra Sen, Iswarchandra Vidyasagar and
others clearly testifies to his all-embracing and irresistible appeal to young and old,
wise and learned, Shikhs, Christians, believers in God with form or without form. These
meetings are resplendent with Sri Ramakrishna's brilliance, humour and joy and for the
first time one reads about these unknown and sweet incidents of his life.
Part V : It is here that one finds a graphic and most pathetic picture of the
Master's last days when he came to Calcutta for the treatment of his deadly disease.
There was that struggle on the human level with all its pains and sufferings of the body
and side by side glimpses of the divine soul totally invulnerable to all sufferings. One
sees that the Master's body and the soul were two separate entities. The body suffered
but the mind and the soul did not, a phenomenon which was witnessed by all.
Hundred of scenes of Sri Ramakrishna's life, from his birth until his death, are vividly
and poetically depicted by the author. His devotional fervour and deep spiritual insight
give devotees the opportunity to become completely absorbed in Sri Ramakrishna and to
feel his divine presence. The author repeatedly tells the reader to listen attentively
to the tales of Sri Ramakrishna's lila and all doubts will be removed and one will
obtain supreme joy. It is with this hope that we present this book.
Ask Akshaya to write these few points in the third section of his book, 'The Propagation
of the Faith'.
1. Whatever the Vedas, the Vedanta, and all other Incarnations have done in the
past, Shri Ramakrishna lived to practise in the course of s single.
2. One cannot understand the Vedas, the Vedanta, the Incarnations, and so forth,
without understanding his life. For he was the explanation.
3. From the very date that he was born, has sprung the Satya-Yuga (Golden Age).
Henceforth there is an end to all sorts of distinctions, and everyone down to the
Chandala will be a sharer in the Divine Love. The distinction between man and woman,
between the rich and the poor, the literate and the illiterate, Brahmins and Chandala
he lived to root out all. And he was the harbinger of Peace the separation between
Hindus and Mohammedans, between Hindus and Christians, all are now things of the past.
That fight about distinctions that there was, belonged to another era. In this
Satya-Yuga the tidal wave of Sri Ramakrishna's Love has unified all.
Tell him to expand these ideas and write them in his own style.
Whoever man or woman will worship Sri Ramakrishna, be he or she ever so low, will be
then and there converted in to the very highest. Another thing, the Motherhood of God is
prominent in this Incarnation. He used to dress himself as a woman he was, as it were,
our Mother and we must likewise look upon all women, and grinding the poor through
caste restrictions. He was the Saviour of the messes, Saviour of all, high and low. And
let Akshaya introduce his worship in every home Brahmin or Chandala, man or woman
everyone has the right to worship him. Whoever will worship him only with devotion shall
be blessed for ever.
Tell him to write in this strain. Never mind anything the Lord will be at his side.
Besides the translations' hard labour of love and dedication to the cause, the role of
the three editors, under the leadership of Dr. Amrita Salm, deserves special
recognition. We are particular thankful to Dr. Satchidananda Dhar for bearing the major
part of the responsibility in preparing the manuscript of the revised edition.
I believe the English version of the Sri Sri Ramakrishna-Punthi will be well received by
the admirers of Sri Ramakrishna.
Publisher's Note to the Revised Second
Edition v Publisher's Note to the First Edition vii Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvii About the Author xix Introduction xxiii Introduction by Swami Vivekananda xxvii Prelude Prayer to Ramakrishna xxix Prayer to the Guru xxxi Prayer to the Devotees xxxvii Birth of the Great Master 3 Mood of Shiva 11 Manifestation of Divine Powers and Assuming the Guise of a
Guest 13 Acceptance of Raghuvira's Garland 15 Playing with Hanuman 18 In the Meadows 20 At school 25 Defeat a Padits 30 Acceptance of Sweetmeats and Garland offered by Chinu
Shankhari 32 Master in an Ecstatic Mood thinking of the Goddess
Vishalkshi 35 Writing the Punthi 39 Kalipuja : The Master in Woman's Dress 41 Demonstration of Asanas in a Playful Mood 45 The Sovereign Hymn to Sri Ramakrishna 51 Master's coming to Calcutta 54 Establishment of the Temple at Dekshineshwar 57 Master at Dekshineshwar and Meeting Rani and
Mathur 65 Marriage 72 Prayer to Holy Mother 77 Vision of Mother Kali Out of Devotion 81 Tantra Sadhana 99 Sadhana According to the Devotees of Rama 118 Fun with Haladhari and Mathur's Vision 124 Testing by Rani Rasmani 131 Yoga Sadhana 133 Maher Sadhana 140 Sadhana According and Islam 156 Sadhana According to Christianity 160 Display of Various Bhavas 162 Return to His Village 171 Pilgrimage 186 Propagation, Display of Glory and Union with the
Devotees 213 At Panihati and Kalutola 217 Hriday's Durgapuja and the Passing Away of Mathur
226 Holy Mother Comes to Dakshineshwar 233 Sodasi Puja 236 Return to Kamarpukur 239 Meeting Shmbhu Mallik 247 Michael Madhusudan Meets the Master 261 Sacred Reading 265 Story of the Dacoit 271 The Master Fulfils Modak's wish and Sankirtana in His Native
Place 278 Grace on Keshab Chandra 291 Incidents of Humility 296 Prayer for Offering Money by Lakshmi Marwari 300 Keshab's Coming to Dekshineshwar to see the
Master 304 Keshab's Vision of the Divine Mother 316 Meeting of Manomohan and Ram 324 Advice to Keshab in Universal Love 332 Initiation of Ramchandra and Coming of Surendra
Mitra 337 Balaram Meets the Master 349 Coming of Yogindra and Others and Departure of
Hriday 368 Rakhal Meets the Master 395 Ramakrishna, the Kind-hearted 403 Meeting Niranjan and Celebration with the Devotes 406 With Narendra 418 Divine Play with The Devotees 428 Coming of Mahendra 445 Fulfilling the Desire of a Woman 454 A Hymn to Sri Sarada Devi 457 Conversation with Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar 460 Description of the Times and Coming of Haramohan and Williams
(25.6.85) 475 Shashadhar
Tarkachuramani 486 In a Playful Mood with the Devotees ( I ) 492 With Householders and Sannyasin Devotees 524 With Brahmo Samaj Devotees at Sinthi 539 Coming of Shashi and Others 549 Grace Bestowed on the Devotees and Celebration at Adhar's
House 564 Amazing Lila of the Master 574 At Nilkntha's Yatra 586 In a Playful Mood with the Devotees ( II ) 590 Coming of Atul, Kalipada and Others 607 Removing the Pride of Nyayavagish 622 Assuring a Brahmin and Accepting Girish's Power of
Attorney 630 Coming of Kali, Mani and Purna 642 Theory of Avatara 646 Birthday Celebration of the Master 652 Festival at Navagopal's House 670 Celebration at Devendra's House 680 In the Village of Bhadrakali 687 Talks on spiritual Topics 701 The Master, the Most Beloved of the Devotees 720 Celebration at Panihati 731 Chariot Festival at Mahesh 742 Coming to Calcutta for Treatment 757 Durgapuja at Surendra's House 766 Advice to Dr. Sarkar 771 More with Dr. Sarkar and Kalipuja 777 Compassion on an Abuser 790 Move to Cossipore 793 Fulfilling the Devotee's Spiritual Desires and Establishment of the
monastery 801 Glossary 821 Index 837
