Some Glimpses of Ramakrishna-Part IV

By Super

Wednesday, April 4, 2012, 9:15

The Master at Dakshineswar

We have elaborately written about the Dakshineswar temple garden elsewhere. Here we present some additional information so that the reader can more clearly visualize and feel the spiritual atmosphere that Ramakrishna created there more than 125 years ago.

Ramakrishna's room has 4 doors and 3 windows, and is located in one of the nicest spots of the temple complex. The room is 21 feet from east to west, and 19 feet from north to south. A statue of Buddha and the following pictures which Ramakrishna collected are still in his room:

1) Gopala and Radha;
2) Radha;
3) Durga;
4) Krishna-Kali;
5) Ramachandra with Sita, Lakshman, Vibhishan, and Hanu-man;
6) Goddess Kali of Kalighat;
7) Buddha (a picture);
8) Buddha (an image);
9) Gauranga and Nityananda with their followers;
10) Goddess Tara;
11) Brahma; 12) Vishnu;
13) Goddess Gayatri;
14) Dhruva;
15) Prahlad;
16) Ramachandra with Guhaka;
17) Ramachandra and Krishna merged into one form.

Sri Ramakrishna had two cots, one for sleeping and the other for sitting. Both are still there as they were during his time. There are two bricks underneath each leg of the sleeping cot and one brick underneath each leg of the sitting cot. In his day there was no furniture in his room except a stool and a cabinet for keeping sweets and fruits.

Once a day a maid or a devotee would sweep his room and clean it with water, and the bricks under the cots would keep the wooden legs from getting wet. In the evening Brinde would light the oil lamp, burn incense powder (dhuna), and close the doors and windows so that the mosquitoes could not get in. During his first visit, M. saw the Master seated alone on his cot in the evening.

The Master would often pace back and forth on the bank of the Ganges at night. Sometimes he would watch it from the semicircular veranda on the western side of his room. He had tremendous faith in the purifying power of Ganges water, which he considered the liquid form of Brahman (Ganga vari Brahma vari). He told his disciples to sip Ganges water if they had any impure thoughts. He asked Girish, his bohemian devotee, to take a bath in the Ganges.

The Master would go to the pine grove, in the northwest corner of the garden, to answer the call of nature. Every morning he would brush his teeth with a twig and also scrape his tongue. He would wash his clothes in the goose pond, east of the Panchavati.

The Master received 6 dhotis (clothes) from the temple authorities every year. He had 2 dhotis for his everyday use. The devotees would supply him with his shirts. One set of clothes—a dhoti and shirt—he kept reserved for his Calcutta visits.

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