Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa: The Priest of Dakshineswar Who Tested Every Path to God

Q: What is the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna?

An English translation of the Kathamrita, Mahendranath Gupta’s record of Ramakrishna’s conversations from 1882 to 1886.

A village boy with little schooling became a temple priest near Kolkata, then spent years practising one spiritual path after another. His conclusion still shapes Indian thought.

By Rajesh 10 Nov 2026 · 5 min read 0 views Rate it 0 comments

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886) was a Bengali mystic and priest at the Dakshineswar Kali temple near Kolkata. After intense devotion to the Divine Mother, he practised Tantra, Advaita Vedanta, Islam and Christianity and concluded that all sincere paths lead to the same God. His disciple Swami Vivekananda carried that message worldwide.

At a glance

Birth name	Gadadhar Chattopadhyay
Born	18 February 1836, Kamarpukur, Bengal
Temple	Dakshineswar Kali temple, founded by Rani Rashmoni in 1855
Spouse	Sarada Devi, later revered as the Holy Mother
Key text	Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita by Mahendranath Gupta (“M”)
Died	16 August 1886, Cossipore, Kolkata

Who was Sri Ramakrishna?

He was a village boy from a poor Brahmin family who disliked formal schooling but loved songs, stories and the countryside. As a child he fell into ecstasies at the sight of dark clouds and flying cranes, or while playing Shiva in a village drama. That sensitivity to the sacred defined his life. He never wrote a book; what we know comes from disciples who recorded his conversations, especially “M”, whose diaries became the Kathamrita, known in English as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

What happened at the Dakshineswar Kali temple?

In 1855, the wealthy widow Rani Rashmoni opened a large temple to Goddess Kali on the Ganga at Dakshineswar. Gadadhar’s elder brother became its priest, and Gadadhar soon took over. Worship was not a duty for him; he wanted to see the Mother. He wept, prayed and refused food until, by his own account, he had an overwhelming vision of Kali as an ocean of light. Some temple staff thought he had lost his mind. Rani Rashmoni and her son-in-law Mathur Babu protected him.

Also readSwami Vivekananda: The Monk Who Carried India’s Voice to the World

Why did he practise so many different paths?

Having reached God through devotion, he wanted to test whether other paths led to the same place. Over about twelve years, he practised each with complete seriousness.

Path	Teacher or approach	Approx. period
Devotion to Kali	Self-driven worship	From 1856
Tantra	Bhairavi Brahmani, a woman adept	1861–1863
Vaishnava bhakti	Devotion to Rama and Krishna in various moods	1860s
Advaita Vedanta	The monk Totapuri; nirvikalpa samadhi	c. 1865
Islam	Under a Sufi, Govinda Rai	c. 1866
Christianity	Reflection on Christ	c. 1874

His conclusion was simple and became famous: as many faiths, so many paths (jato mat, tato path).

Who was Sarada Devi in his life?

Ramakrishna married Saradamani Mukhopadhyay in 1859, when she was a child, following custom. When she came to Dakshineswar as a young woman, their relationship remained spiritual rather than conjugal. In 1872, he worshipped her ritually as the Divine Mother. After his death, Sarada Devi guided his disciples for decades and is revered today as the Holy Mother.

What did Ramakrishna teach?

God can be realised in this life, through sincere longing.
God has form and is formless; both views are true at different levels.
Lust and greed (kamini-kanchan) are the main obstacles for seekers.
Serve people as God, not out of pity.
Do your duties in the world, holding God like a maid holds a master’s child: with care, but knowing it is not yours.

He taught through parables and everyday images, such as the lake with many ghats where people draw the same water under different names.

1836 — Born at Kamarpukur.

1855–56 — Joins Dakshineswar temple; becomes priest.

1859 — Marriage to Sarada Devi.

1861–1874 — Practises Tantra, Vedanta, Islam and Christianity.

1879–1885 — Young disciples, including Narendranath (Vivekananda), gather.

1886 — Dies of throat cancer at Cossipore on 16 August.

Also readRamana Maharshi: The Silent Sage of Arunachala and the Question “Who Am I?”

How can you visit the places of his life?

Dakshineswar Kali temple — his room, preserved, faces the Ganga.
Belur Math — across the river; reachable by ferry from Dakshineswar.
Cossipore Udyanbati — the garden house where he spent his last months.
Kamarpukur — his birthplace in Hooghly district, with a Ramakrishna Math centre.

Her View: Ramakrishna worshipped God as Mother and his own wife as the Goddess. Few saints placed the feminine so close to the centre of their spiritual life.

His Insight: He did not argue that religions are equal; he tested it personally, path by path. That is experimental spirituality.