Sri Ramakrishna & Siva Mahimnah

[Guest guest]

In the preface to Siva Mahimnah Stotra by Swami Pavitrananda (Advaita Ashram)

he mnetions that Sri Ramakrishna once went into Samadhi reciting the Siva

Mahimnah Stotra.

Is this appearing anywhere in the Gospel ?

Sunder.......may I trouble you with a special research effort on this ? God

bless you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

There is a good description of this episode at URL:

 

http://www.koausa.org/KoshSam/Ramakrishna.html

 

The school-days drama episode is recounted in Sw.

Saradananda's Biography of Sri Ramakrishna [p.65]

 

 

 

Gadadhar was once called upon to act as Siva on Sivaratri night in a

dramatic performance at the house of Sitanath Pyre. The boy who was

to act as Siva had fallen ill. Gadadhar's friends dressed him up as

Siva, smearing his body with ashes, hanging Rudraksha beads around

his neck, adorning his head with matted locks and a crescent moon,

giving a trident for him to hold in his hand and so on. The young

boy's mind soared into divine consciousness and he entered the stage

with slow and measured steps.

 

Gadadhar then stood motionless on the stage and the audience felt

that Siva Himself was standing before them. The young boy was totally

lost in the great sublimity of Siva. The audience went into raptures.

Some cried out the names of Hari, the women uttered the auspicious

sound of 'ulu' and some blew conch shells. It was as if everyone had

been transported to Kailasa, the celestial abode of Siva !

 

Gadadhar stood in the same posture for a long time with tears flowing

down his cheeks; he neither spoke nor moved. Two or three elderly

people went to the boy and saw that his hands and feet were

insensitive and that he had no external consciousness. After some

cornmotion, the play was stopped and Gadadhar was taken home by his

friends. His divine ecstasy didn't come to an end that Sivaratri

night, inspite of all efforts by others such as uttering the name of

Siva into his ears. It is said that Gadadhar regained normal

consciousness the next day after sunrise. Some say that he was in

that ecstatic state continuously for three days.

 

Siva Incarnate

 

The birthday of Sri Ramakrishna falls on the second lunar day, three

days after the Sivaratri. If it was true that the young boy Gadadhar

was continuously in samadhi for three days from that Sivaratri night,

it means that he regained normal consciousness only on his own

birthday, which is now celebrated by devotees as Sri Ramakrishna

Jayanti. Thus Sri Ramakrishna's impersonation of Siva and his

absorption for three days in Siva- consciousness at the age of nine

directly links the holy Sivaratri with Sri Ramakrishna Jayanti. Thus

Sri Ramakrishna was none other than Siva Incarnate, which fact was

palpably felt by all the pious souls who were fortunate to witness

his dramatic impersonation of Siva on that holy Sivaratri night.

 

Sri Ramakrishna does not appear to have engaged himself in any

special sadhana with a view to realise Siva, though he performed

sadhana to realise deities like Kali, Rama and Krishna. He seems to

have realised Siva without any effort on his part at the age of nine

on the Sivaratri day; like many other spiritua1 experiences of Sri

Ramakrishna, his absorption in the mood of Siva also lasted for three

days then.

 

Sri Ramakrishna also realised Siva as a corollary to his realisation

of the Divine Mother Kali, since Siva and Sakti are inseparable; in

fact, the deity Dakshineswar Kali worshipped by him stands on the

prostrate image of Siva. Thakur's devotion to Siva and his knowledge

that Siva resides in all beings seem natural and spontaneous like the

manifestation of the 'Swayambhu Linga' of Siva, which is a self-

sprung emblem of Siva with its roots going as far as Benares.

 

In the whole of India, there are twelve most holy Sivalingas known as

Jyotir-Lingas, the manifestations of Siva in the form of emblems

representing light. In the Dakshineswar temple also, twelve temples

of Siva have been constructed in a row by Rani Rasmani, who perhaps

had in mind the twelve Jyotirlingas. Sri Ramakrishna himself was a

living Jyotirlinga of Siva as he was the embodiment of divine light

which arose out of Jugi's Siva Temple of Kamarpukur. Thus it is no

wonder that Thakur was much devoted to the twelve 'Jyotir Lingas' or

Siva installed at Dakshineswar.

 

The 'Siva-Mahimna Stotra' composed by Pushpadanta is the most popular

hymn on Siva in North India. Sri Ramakirshna certainly knew it by

heart. One day he was reciting this hymn in one of the twelve Siva

temples at Dakshineswar when he came to the following verse:

" Asitagirisamam syat kaijalam sindhupatre Surataruvarasakha lekhani

patramurvi; Likhati yadi grihitva Sarada sarvakalam Tadapi tava

gunanamisa param na yati. "

which means: " Oh Lord, if the blue mountian be the ink, the ocean the

ink-pot, the biggest branch of the heavenly tree be the pen, the

earth the writing leaf and taking these if Sarada, the goddess of

learning, writes for eternity, even then the limit of Your virtues

will not be reached. "

 

Reciting the aforesaid verse, Sri Ramakrishna entered into an

ecstatic mood and cried out again and again, " O Great God, how can I

express your great glory? " All came running towards that spot hearing

the cries of Thakur. Mathur Babu was in the temple at that time.

Hearing the uproar, he also came and prevented others from removing

Sri Ramakrishna forcibly from the Siva temple. Mathur had already

formed a high opinion about Sri Ramakrishna by that time. When Thakur

came down to normal consciousness and saw the crowd, he asked Mathur

whether he had done anything wrong. Mathur saluted him and said, " No,

Ba Ba (father), you were reciting a hymn: I stood here lest some one

should disturb you unthinkingly. " Thus Mathur Babu protected and

served Thakur in all possible ways for fourteen years like Nandi who

eternally serves Lord Siva. Truly Mathur Babu and Hriday were to Sri

Ramakrishna, what Nandi and Bhringi are to Siva. At another time,

Mathur Babu actually saw Sri Ramakrishna as Siva and Kali

alternately, as Thakur was pacing up and down.

 

The verse from the Siva Mahimna Stotra which was recited again and

again by Sri Ramakrishna is eminently applicable to his own life. Sri

Ramakrishna himself is the Siva of this age, whose glories so many

writers and poets are finding it difficult to express in words ! The

words 'Sarada Sarvakalam' in the aforesaid hymn are very apt. The

Goddess Sarada Herself was actually born as the Holy Mother Sri

Sarada Devi and was tirelessly repeating the glories of Ramakrishna-

Siva 'Sarvakalam' (at all times); still the limit of his virtues

could not be reached.

 

Sri Ramakrishna could not worship for long the twelve Sivalingas in

the Dakshineswar temple which are called Yogeswar, Jatneswar,

Jatileswar, Nakuleswar, Nakeswar, Nirjareswar, Nareswar, Nandiswar,

Nageswar, Jagadiswar, Ja1eswar and Yajneswar. Among these twe1ve

Sivas, Jagadiswar (literal1y, Lord of the world) seems to be

especially important, as the real name of the Kali at the

Dakshineswar temple is 'Sri Sri Jagadiswari Mahakali.' Sri

Ramakrishna himself was Jagadiswar-Siva who actually realised that

the Jagad (world) itself is Iswara (Siva). He said " One day while

worshipping Siva I was about to " a bel- leaf on the head of the

image, when it was revealed to me that this Virat, this Universe,

itself is Siva. After thst my worship of Siva through the image came

to an end. " But he used to send his young disciples to the twelve

Siva temples for meditation.

 

Siva is said to be in Bhava Samadhi during day time and in Nirvikalpa

Samadhi at night. Sri Ramakrishna's time was also spent in various

types of Samadhi. He ever dwelt in the state of Bhavamukha, which is

the threshold state between samadhi and normal consciousness. Swami

Sivananda has stated that whenever songs on Siva were sung in the

presence of Sri Ramakrishna, he entered into ecstasies close to the

Nirvikalpa Samadhi. Once songs on Siva were continuously sung and

Thakur entered deep into Nirvikalpa. Thereafter he gave instructions

that songs on Siva should be fo11owed by songs on tbe Divine Mother-

so that his mind could come down easily from Nirvikalpa Samadhi.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

 

 

Ramakrishna, DEVINDER AHUJA <devahuja> wrote:

>

> In the preface to Siva Mahimnah Stotra by Swami Pavitrananda

(Advaita Ashram) he mnetions that Sri Ramakrishna once went into

Samadhi reciting the Siva Mahimnah Stotra.

> Is this appearing anywhere in the Gospel ?

> Sunder.......may I trouble you with a special research effort on

this ? God bless you.

>

 

>

> Send FREE Valentine eCards with Greetings!

>

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

The episode of Thakur reciting the Shivamahimna Stotra and goin

in to samadhi is on p. 494-495 of Sw. Saradanda'a Biography of the

Master[5th revised ed. 1978; engl. tr. Original 'Lilaprasanga' in

Bengali].

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

 

Ramakrishna, DEVINDER AHUJA <devahuja> wrote:

>

> In the preface to Siva Mahimnah Stotra by Swami Pavitrananda

(Advaita Ashram) he mnetions that Sri Ramakrishna once went into

Samadhi reciting the Siva Mahimnah Stotra.

> Is this appearing anywhere in the Gospel ?

> Sunder.......may I trouble you with a special research effort on

this ? God bless you.

>

 

>

> Send FREE Valentine eCards with Greetings!

>

>