Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṃsa
1836–1886 · Kāmārpukur & Dakṣiṇeśvar, Bengal · Vedānta, Śākta
Rāmakṛṣṇa, born Gadādhar Chaṭṭopādhyāy in the village of Kāmārpukur, became priest at the Kālī temple at Dakṣiṇeśvar near Kolkata. Consumed by longing for the Divine Mother, he went through intense spiritual practice in many paths — Tantra, Vaiṣṇava devotion and Advaita Vedānta — and is said also to have followed Islamic and Christian practices for a time.
From this he taught “yata mat, tata path” — “as many faiths, so many paths” to the one God. His simple, vivid parables are recorded by his disciple Mahendranāth Gupta (“M”) in the Śrī Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Kathāmṛta (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna).
1836–1886 · Dakṣiṇeśvar Kālī temple · “Yata mat, tata path” · Kathāmṛta