Sri Ramakrishna and the Message of Hinduism

(The Annamalai University)

In these days of technical civilisation, life is full of stress and strain. A state of indefiniteness and indecision prevails and is patent all through the turmoils of modern life. Only one thing is evident in our activities and that is ‘speed.’ But when we settle down for a moment to think calmly, we find what we need is Rest, true and quiet Rest–Santi. This Santi, Rest or Peace, whatever we may call it, is the message of Hinduism, the message of the Upanishads, and the message that was preached and practised by Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna.

It may be rather difficult to reconcile ourselves to this idea of peace in the bewildering conditions of modern times. It may be difficult to conceive that this idea of peace is to help one towards God-realisation. But in truth it is not so. I would give an example. Suppose a navigator is voyaging on the seas, and in the midst of his voyage he finds himself engulfed by a cyclone. The intelligent navigator that he is, he steers to the centre of the cyclone and discovers Rest and Safety there. In the same way, in the centre of our cyclonic life may be found our Spirit. This is a simple conception to start with. And the Upanishadic message conveyed to us and to the world is embodied in the simple formula ‘Matrudevobhava’– ‘Respect thy Mother as God.’ Sri Ramakrishna realised God through the observance of this formula.

When reversed a little it comes to mean, "Contemplate on God as the Mother." To the unlettered man, to the unsophisticated and illiterate person, the idea of the Mother is simple enough. Indeed, from Mother to God, it is not a far cry. Bhagavan Ramakrishna started with this ideal which is one of the greatest contributions made by Indian culture to the world. There are indeed many ways of conceiving God; but certainly the most appealing among them is this; and more certainly the advantages derived from this concept are many. Even to the child, the values of life, vague as they may seem to be, are to be derived from the mother, and to the childlike heart there is the element of easiest accessibility to the Mother. To the child the nearest and dearest is the Mother–the true embodiment of pure, self-effacing Love. The keynote of Hinduism is the synthesis between Bhakti, Jnana and Karma. The Hindu scriptures proclaim this and our Siddhas and practical Jnanis realised it. Self-effacing Devotion could be cultivated in the best way possible, if it is associated with the concept of God as the Mother.

There was a parallel to Sri Ramakrishna in South India and that was Muka. He reached the highest state of Jnana through the practice of this simple concept of Bhakti. He was a Sanyasin and a great Bhakta like Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna. Though he had not much of schooling or systematic instruction, he had great intuition. To him Kamakshi, the Goddess of Kanchi, was the Mother. She was the embodiment of all that was True, Good and Beautiful. To Ramakrishna, likewise, Kali was the Mother–the embodiment of all that was Good and True and Beautiful. His was a faith that engendered the highest type of courage and gave the Bhakta the type of rest that lifts him above the turmoils of life.

Muka realised all this through his devotion to the Mother. To men of the present day, all values of life are subordinated to wealth in some form or other. But to Bhaktas like Muka or Ramakrishna, moving with courage in a world of higher economic values,–this I shall call by the phrase ‘world of spiritual Economics’–the true Dhana (wealth) is the Atman, or the Spirit of Man. This Spirit of Man is the highest kind of wealth in spiritual economics. The great poet Vyasa indicated this by calling the ‘Atmapaharin’ the greatest thief, and Muka suggests this in the verse quoted. When one does not recognise Atman as the greatest Dhana, he enters into all sorts of relationship with undesirable people. Both Muka and Ramakrishna realised this truth.

Bhakti and Jnana, according to the teachings of Hinduism, are the two phases of the same Life. A modern writer remarks: "Love and Knowledge are the twin-sisters, living in the ante-chamber and the inner chamber, allying themselves with each other in striving towards the common goal." The life of Bhagavan Ramakrishna is an illustration of Bhakti towards the Mother, which, in its ripe stage, mounts up to the highest state of Jnana.

All the Upanishads, while they endeavour to give us a glimpse into the nature of Reality and show us the path that leads towards the knowledge of the Absolute, confess that there is no direct means of approach. It is only through a process of negation (neti neti–not this, not this), or elimination, that realisation is possible. Ramakrishna, as usual, introduces startling analogies, and in this context, compares a Jnanin to a thief in quest of treasure. The thief enters a dark room and lays his hand on various articles, and leaves one article after another with the words ‘not this, not this,’ till he lays his hands finally on the treasure he has been seeking so far. The search of the Jnanin for Atman–Brahman–is likewise. All honour to such thieves! From the stage of Matru Bhakti to that of Brahma Jnana rose Sri Ramakrishna, and the end of his quest was in his own words, "At Thy Feet, O Mother!"

Another message of Hinduism as conceived by Ramakrishna is the adaptability or elasticity of religion, one of the strongest points of Hinduism Hindu religion and Hindu thought may be compared to the Pushpaka-vimana which is said to accommodate all. It has given room to Kubera, the mammon God, Ravana, the worshipper of the senses, and Rama, the incarnation of God. Hinduism similarly embraces all religious ideals and creates real harmony between religions. It proclaims, "Paths may be many, but the Goal is the same." The religious unity which Hinduism teaches, is also the message preached and practised by Ramakrishna.

With the aid of the analogy of the chameleon which, though possessing no one particular colour, yet shows different colours, Ramakrishna explained that God, though formless, may yet be assumed to manifest himself in diverse forms.

The idea of the Oneness of God as the Unity of Truth was preached by him. In fact, if one probes into the idea of dependence according to the Dvaita, it will land him in Unity. The world and God form an organic whole, just like the spirit of man and his human form which constitute an organic whole–so say the Visishtadvaitins; and here also, unity is the underlying idea. The acme of unity is reached in the Upanishadic formula–‘Tat Tvam Asi’–(God is Man, Man God), as understood by Advaitins. Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna draws our attention to this unity.

On the ethical side, the greatest message as set forth in the Upanishads and as conceived by Ramakrishna is embodied in the three disguised imperatives ‘Damyata’, ‘Datta’, and ‘Dayadhvam’ ¹disguised in the dental rumblings–‘da, da, da’ of a thunderclap, as the Brhadaranyaka says. These are the three cardinal virtues. The whole of the Sermon on the Mount may be brought under these, and the rest will follow. As Sankara said, the three inner urges that impel a man on the wrong side towards hell, are Kama Lobha and Krodha, and their antidotes are Dama, Dana and Daya. The practice of these virtues leads one towards God-realisation, Sri Ramakrishna proclaims, "Let me be a Christian in Love, a Moslem in Sincerity, and a Hindu in Charity."

1 "Restrain yourself" "Give generously" and "Have mercy"