Ramakrishna Biography Quotes 30 Report mistakes

Early Life and Background
Ramakrishna, born as Gadadhar Chattopadhyay around 1836 in the village of Kamarpukur in rural Bengal, grew up in a devout and simple family. His parents, Khudiram Chattopadhyay and Chandramani Devi, were known for their piety, and the child showed an early attraction to devotional singing, village dramas based on sacred tales, and contemplative moods that sometimes deepened into trances. Little interested in formal schooling or worldly advancement, he gravitated to the dense, experiential core of religion, preferring song, worship, and meditation to book learning.

Temple Service at Dakshineswar and Spiritual Awakening
In his youth he went to Calcutta to assist his elder brother, Ramkumar, who had found work near the newly established Dakshineswar Kali Temple, built under the patronage of Rani Rashmoni. After Ramkumar's death, Gadadhar took up priestly duties at Dakshineswar. There, before the image of the Divine Mother Kali, he plunged into intense spiritual practice. His longing for the direct vision of the Divine became so consuming that observers sometimes mistook his ecstatic states for madness. Supported by the temple's manager, Mathur Mohan Biswas (Mathur Babu), he was relieved of routine obligations and encouraged to pursue his sadhana without restraint.

Guides, Practices, and Ecstasies
Ramakrishna's path unfolded through successive disciplines that he entered with total surrender. The Bhairavi Brahmani, a learned woman adept in Tantra and Vaishnava devotion, recognized his experiences as grounded in revered scriptures and guided him in rigorous practices. Later, the itinerant monk Tota Puri initiated him into Advaita Vedanta and supervised his immersion in nondual meditation, culminating in nirvikalpa samadhi. Ramakrishna also practiced within Islam and Christianity for periods, under the guidance or example of practitioners of those faiths. Each time he reported direct realizations that convinced him that all genuine paths lead to the same ultimate truth.

Marriage and the Ideal of the Divine Mother
Married in youth to Sarada Devi, he remained, by his own wish, turned toward the ideal of God as Mother. When Sarada Devi came to live with him at Dakshineswar years later, he honored her as the Divine Mother in a solemn worship that affirmed his view of womanhood as holy. Sarada Devi's quiet strength and later stewardship of his spiritual household made her one of the most important figures in his life, and after his passing she became a central guide to his followers.

Circle of Disciples and Devotees
From the 1870s, a varied circle gathered at Dakshineswar. Young seekers from Calcutta's emerging middle class were drawn by his simplicity, fearlessness in God, and vivid teaching style. Among them, Narendranath Datta, later known as Swami Vivekananda, became his foremost disciple, probing him sharply before surrendering to the authenticity he perceived. Others included Rakhal (later Swami Brahmananda), Baburam (Swami Premananda), and Latu (Swami Adbhutananda). Householder devotees such as Mahendranath Gupta, who recorded his words as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita), Balaram Bose, and Girish Chandra Ghosh provided steady support. Ramakrishna also interacted with public figures like Keshab Chandra Sen of the Brahmo Samaj, whose admiration helped spread his message among urban elites.

Teachings and Method
Ramakrishna taught primarily through parable, song, humor, and the immediacy of his own states of consciousness. He insisted that God can be realized, that the Divine assumes many forms to meet the needs of seekers, and that sincerity in any one path yields the goal. He advocated renunciation of selfishness, cultivation of devotion, and discrimination between the eternal and the transient. He emphasized purity, truthfulness, and seeing the Divine in all beings, repeatedly counseling his listeners to hold fast to God in the midst of life's duties. His conversations, preserved by Mahendranath Gupta and others, capture a teacher who moved effortlessly among devotional fervor, nondual clarity, and practical counsel.

Engagement with Reformers and Society
While he did not found a social movement or engage in politics, Ramakrishna's audience included reformers and intellectuals searching for a modern spiritual anchor. Dialogues with Keshab Chandra Sen and other Brahmo leaders showed his openness to new currents while remaining rooted in direct realization. He welcomed people of different backgrounds to Dakshineswar, and his inclusive spirit helped reframe religious life in a cosmopolitan, colonial-era Bengal.

Final Years and Passing
In the mid-1880s Ramakrishna developed throat cancer. Devotees moved him first to a house in Shyampukur and later to a garden residence in Cossipore, on the outskirts of Calcutta. There, amid pain and weakness, he continued to instruct and bless those around him, forging bonds among his young followers. He passed away around 1886, leaving behind not an institution but a living circle of disciples shaped by his example and united by the realizations they had witnessed in him.

Legacy
After his death, his monastic disciples, led by Narendranath Datta as Swami Vivekananda, formed the Ramakrishna Order, establishing a monastery first at Baranagar and later at Belur on the Ganges. Sarada Devi guided the growing community with maternal authority. Through Vivekananda's work in India and abroad, and through the writings of Mahendranath Gupta and others, Ramakrishna's vision of the harmony of religions and the primacy of God-realization spread widely. Rani Rashmoni's temple at Dakshineswar, the nurturing care of Mathur Babu, the learned guidance of the Bhairavi Brahmani and Tota Puri, the devotion of householder supporters like Balaram Bose and Girish Chandra Ghosh, and the leadership of disciples such as Swami Vivekananda and Swami Brahmananda together formed the human constellation around which his life took shape. Remembered as a mystic and spiritual teacher, Ramakrishna continues to be honored for a message that was at once deeply traditional and strikingly universal.

Our collection contains 30 quotes who is written by Ramakrishna, under the main topics: Wisdom - Truth - Live in the Moment - Faith - Doctor.