Jump to content

Ramakrishnananda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Trishul31 (talk | contribs) at 04:23, 4 February 2011. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Swami Ramakrishnananda at Madras
  • Pre-monastic name : Shashi Bhushan Chakravarty
  • Date of Birth : 13 July 1863
  • Place of Birth : Ichapur in Hooghly district, West Bengal

Shashi’s father Ishwara Chandra Chakravarty was an expert in ritualistic worship, and Shashi imbibed from him love for ritualistic worship. After passing out of the village school, he went to Kolkata and lived with his cousin Sharat (later, Swami Saradananda) for higher education. A brilliant student, he chose mathematics for the B.A. course which, however, he could not complete owing to the terminal illness of Sri Ramakrishna at Cossipore.

While studying in college Shashi and Sharat joined the Brahmo Samaj, and heard about Sri Ramakrishna from Keshab Chandra Sen himself. In October 1883 they visited Dakshineswar and were deeply attracted to Sri Ramakrishna. The Master used to say that Shashi and Sharat had been the followers of Jesus Christ in their previous birth.

Shashi distinguished himself most by the self-sacrificing spirit and devotion with which he served Sri Ramakrishna during his last illness at Shyampukur and Cossipore. After the Master’s passing he joined the Baranagar Math and underwent sannyasa ordination, assuming the name Ramakrishnananda. He took charge of the worship of the Atmaramer kauta, the urn containing the relics of Sri Ramakrishna in the Math’s shrine. He felt the living presence of the Master, and so his worship was not a mere ritual but loving service to a living God. It was Swami Ramakrishnananda who formulated and introduced the system of daily ritualistic worship to Sri Ramakrishna that is followed in the Ramakrishna Movement.

He seldom went out on pilgrimage, and devoted himself to daily worship at the Math. But when Swami Vivekananda, after his return from the West, asked him to go to Chennai and open a branch centre of Ramakrishna Math there, he obeyed without any hesitation. The saga of sacrifice and hardship that he underwent in preaching the message of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda for 14 years under unfavourable conditions has been recorded in letters of gold in the annals of the Ramakrishna Movement. In the South he travelled extensively. The starting of centres in Trivandrum, Mysore, Bangalore [1] and Mumbai [2] owed much to his pioneering efforts.

Incessant work, however, told upon his health, and he contracted tuberculosis. He breathed his last in a state of ecstasy on 21 August 1911. [3] [4]

His Legacy

  • Swami Ramakrishnananda introduced ritualistic worship of Sri Ramakrishna and formulated Brahmacharya vows for novices of the Ramakrishna Order
  • Swami Ramakrishnananda started Sri Ramakrishna Math Chennai, Sri Ramakrishna Math Bangalore, Ramakrishna Mission Students Home in Mylapore, National School for Girls, George Town, Chennai, Publication of books on Ramakrishna - Vivekananda from Madras.
  • Extensive travels to Bangalore, Mysore, Trivandrum, Allepey, Ernakulam, Machilipatnam, Tirunelveli, Rangoon, Bombay and other places. As a result of his visits, many centers of Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission came up in some of the places later
  • Swami Ramakrishnananda's writings and lectures include Life of Sri Ramanuja, God and Divine Incarnation, The Message of Eternal Wisdom, Sri Krishna: Pastoral and the King Maker, For Thinkers on Education, The Ancient Quest, Consolations, The Soul of Man, The Universe and Man, Path to Perfection, Sri Ramkakrishna and His Mission[5]

Testimonials

Swami Vivekananda had once said, 'I shall send you one who is more orthodox than the most orthodox Brahmins of the South and who is at the same time incomparable in performing worship, scriptural knowledge and meditation on God.' He meant Swami Ramakrishnananda, who was sent in March 1897.'

References

  1. ^ http://www.rkmathbangalore.org/rkm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=29
  2. ^ http://www.rkmkhar.org/right_side_bar/rkm_movement/rm_pg3.html
  3. ^ http://www.belurmath.org/ramakrishnananda.htm
  4. ^ http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2019%20No%2019/when-the-rk-math-put-down-madras-roots.html
  5. ^ ISBN 81-7823-400-9 Swami Ramakrishnananda a Portrait in Pictures, Appendix II
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ramakrishnananda&oldid=411920165"