See Also: Ramakrishna (Paramahamsa)(encyclopedia)
Ramakrishna(dictionary)

Ramakrishna (Paramahamsa) (sh)




orig. Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya

born Feb. 18, 1836, Hooghly, Bengal state, India
died Aug. 16, 1886, Calcutta

Indian mystic.

Born into a poor Brahman family, he worked as a priest in a temple of Kali in Calcutta (now Kolkata), where he had a vision and commenced spiritual practices in a number of different religious traditions. He denounced sexual desire and money as the twin evils that put spiritual enlightenment beyond reach, rejected the caste system, and held that all religions are in essence the same and that all are true. His teachings were spread by his disciples, notably Vivekananda. A religious order bearing his name, with headquarters in Kolkata, sends missionaries throughout the world.


Ramakrishna, photographed about 1881.

Courtesy of the Information Service of India, London