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Narendra: Sir, have you seen God?
Sri Ramakrishna: Yes. I see him
just as I see you here, only more clearly. God can be seen.
Anyone with even a little
introspection will at least be curious, if not excited, by the
affirmative reply of Sri Ramakrishna to the basic and most relevant
question of Narendra. This will surely prompt him to know more about
the life and teachings of the Great Master, Sri Ramakrishna.
Gadadhar, as Sri Ramakrishna was
christened by his parents Kshudhiram and Chandramani, was born on 18
February, 1836 in Kamarpukur, a village 60 miles North West of
Calcutta in West Bengal. The financially poor Kshudhiram and
Chandramani were rich in virtues - endowed with abundant contentment
and love; selflessness and austerity; renunciation and purity;
charity and kindness.
Kshudhiram visited Holy Gaya. In a
dream, Lord Vishnu, the presiding deity, blessed Kshudhiram that He
would be born as his son. Around the same time, K
shudiram’s wife Chandramani had a divine experience in Yogi Siva
temple near their house. She saw brilliant waves of light radiate
from Lord Siva and flood her being. She felt she was pregnant. Soon
thereafter, Gadadhar was born.
At school, Gadadhar learned to read
and write, but soon lost interest in `bread-winning’ education.
The first experience of Cosmic
Consciousness was triggered in boy Gadadhar at the age of six. He
lost himself in the beauty of a flock of cranes flying across the
sky with dark cloud background. The boy fell unconscious and had to
be carried home. On a Sivarathri day, he enacted the role of Siva
and lost outer consciousness completely.
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