Ramakrishna's impact

Ramakrishna (1836-1886) is a famous nineteenth-century Indian mystic. Born as he was during a social upheaval in Bengal in particular and India in general, Ramakrishna and his movement—Ramakrishna Mission played a leading role in the modern revival of Hinduism in India, and on modern Indian history. [Jackson, p. 16.]

On Hinduism

His career was an important part of the renaissance that Bengal, and later India, experienced in the 19th century. Hinduism faced a huge intellectual challenge in the 19th century, from Westerners and Indians alike. The Hindu practice of "murti" came under intense pressure specially in Bengal, then the center of British India, and was declared intellectually unsustainable by some intellectuals. Response to this was varied, ranging from the Young Bengal movement that denounced Hinduism and embraced Christianity or atheism, to the Brahmo movement that retained primacy of Hinduism but gave up idol worship, and to the staunch Hindu nationalism of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Ramakrishna’s influence was crucial in this period for a Hindu revival of a more traditional kind, and can be compared to that of Chaitanya's contribution centuries earlier, when Hinduism in Bengal was under similar pressure from the growing power of Islam.Mukherjee, Jayasree, "Sri Ramakrishna’s Impact on Contemporary Indian Society". "Prabuddha Bharata", May 2004 [http://www.eng.vedanta.ru/library/prabuddha_bharata/sri_ramakrishna%27s_impact_on_contemporary_indian_society_may04.php Online article] ]

Among his contributions is a strong affirmation of the presence of the divine in an idol.Swami Saradananda,"Sri Sri Ramakrishna Leelaproshongo", (Kolkata:Udbodhon Karyaloy, 1955), Part I, pp.113-125] Gupta, Mahendranath, "Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita", (Kolkata: Kathamrita Bhavan, 1901, 1949 17th edition), Part I, pp. 20-21] To the many that revered him, this reinforced centuries-old traditions that were in the spotlight at the time. Ramakrishna also advocated an inclusive version of the religion, declaring "Joto mot toto path" (meaning "As many faiths, so many paths"). He was given a name that is from the Vaishnavite tradition (Rama and Krishna are both incarnations of Vishnu), but was a devotee of Kali, the mother goddess, and known to have followed various other religious paths including Tantrism, Christianity, and Islam. [Flood, p. 257.]

Contributions to Humanity

Many great thinkers of the world have acknowledged Ramakrishna's contribution to humanity. Max Müller, who was inspired by Ramakrishna, said: [ [http://www.vedanta-newyork.org/articles/on_sri_ramakrishna.htm#muller Vedanta Society of New York] ]
Leo Tolstoy saw similarities between his and Ramakrishna's thoughts. He described him as a "remarkable sage". [World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, pp.15-16] Romain Rolland considered Ramakrishna to be the "consummation of two thousand years of the spiritual life of three hundred million people." He said [The Life of Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama] :
Mohandas Gandhi wrote: [Life of Sri Ramakrishna, Advaita Ashrama, Foreword]
Sri Aurobindo considered Ramakrishna to be an incarnation, or avatar, of God on par with Gautama Buddha. [World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.16] He wrote:Christopher Isherwood also considered Ramakrishna to be an incarnation of God. [Ramakrishna and His Disciples, Advaita Ashrama, p.2]

Jawaharlal Nehru described Ramakrishna as "one of the great "rishis" of India, who had come to draw our attention to the higher things of life and of the spirit." [World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.28] Subhas Chandra Bose was also influenced by Ramakrishna. He said: [World Thinkers on Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, p.29]

Philosopher Arindam Chakrabarti called Ramakrishna "The practically illiterate, faith-bound, emotional, otherworldly esoteric Ramakrishna who prayed to the Goddess: "May my rationalizing intellect be struck by thunder!" And yet in his [Arindam Chakrabarti, "The Dark Mother Flying Kites: Sri Ramakrishna's Metaphysic of Morals" "Sophia", 33 (3), 1994] quotation|...views about the nature of ultimate reality, the relation between the self and the body, ways of knowing truth, moral and social duties of human beings and metatheoretical explanations of why mystics disagree...Ramakrishna was no less a philosopher than Buddha or Socrates.

On Indian Nationalism

Ramakrishna’s impact on the growing Indian nationalism was, if more indirect, nevertheless quite notable. A large number of intellectuals of that age had regular communication with him and respected him, though not all of them necessarily agreed with him on religious matters. Numerous members of the Brahmo Samaj respected him. Though some of them embraced his form of Hinduism, the fact that many others did not shows that they detected in him a possibility for a strong national identity in the face of a colonial adversary that was intellectually undermining the Indian civilisation. As Amaury de Riencourt states,"The greatest leaders of the early twentieth century, whatever their walk of life -- Rabindranath Tagore, the prince of poets; Aurobindo Ghosh, the greatest mystic-philosopher; Mahatma Gandhi, who eventually shook the Anglo-Indian Empire to destruction -- all acknowledged their over-riding debt to both the Swan and the Eagle, to Ramakrishna who stirred the heart of India, and to Vivekananda who awakened its soul."de Riencourt, Amaury, "The Soul of India", (London: Jonathan Cape, 1961), p.250] This is particularly evident in Ramakrishna’s development of the Mother-symbolism and its eventual role in defining the incipient Indian nationalism. Jolly, Margaret,"Motherlands? Some Notes on Women and Nationalism in India and Africa"."The Australian Journal of Anthropology",Volume: 5. Issue: 1-2,1994]

Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission

Vivekananda, Ramakrishna’s most illustrious disciple, is considered by some to be one of his most important legacies. Vivekananda spread the message of Ramakrishna across the world. He also helped introduce Hinduism to the west. He founded two organisations based on the teachings of Ramakrishna. One was Ramakrishna Mission, which is designed to spread the word of Ramakrishna. Vivekananda also designed its emblem. Ramakrishna Math was created as a monastic order based on Ramakrishna’s teachings. [cite web|url=http://www.rkmhq.org/home.htm|title=Official website of Ramakrishna Math|accessdate=2008-09-02]

The temples of Ramakrishna are called the "Universal Temples". [cite web
last = Bhuteshanandaji
first = Swami
title = Why are Sri Ramakrishna Temples called "Universal Temples"?
url = http://www.rkmathnagpur.org/new_temple/universal_temple.htm
accessdate = 2008-17-08] The first "Universal temple" was built at Belur, which is the headquatress of the Ramakrishna Mission.Daily arathi, pooja and devotional singing are conducted everyday.

Works related to Ramakrishna

In 2006, composer Philip Glass wrote "The Passion of Ramakrishna" — a choral work as a "tribute to Ramakrishna". It premiered on September 16, 2006 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California, performed by Orange County’s Pacific Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carl St. Clair with the Pacific Chorale directed by John Alexander. [ [http://www.philipglass.com/html/compositions/passion-of-ramakrishna.html Philipglass.com] ] Franz Dvorak (1862–1927), a painter from Prague, inspired by the teachings of Ramakrishna made several paintings of Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi. [cite book
last = Chatterjee
first = Ramananda
year = 1935
title = The Modern Review
publisher = Prabasi Press
pages = p.446]

Notes