Sri Ramakrishna on Himself (cont)

Sri Ramakrishna on Himself, also brings in moments of powerful affect, which establish Sri Ramakrishna in a Radha like mode, characterized by vyakulata or even viraha. However, this viraha or vyakulata was not for a romantic love object, but for devotees, with whom he wished to converse, once his period of intense sadhana was over. In his own words:

My heart was wrung like a wet towel, and I was restless with grief and pain. I wanted to weep loudly, but I couldn’t cry in public or people would misunderstand me. …Severely tormented by the worthless, mundane talk of worldly people, I would wistfully anticipate the day when my beloved companions would arrive (149).

Thakur’s words above are strongly reminiscent of Rabindranath Tagore’s song, “tai tomar ananda amar por/tumi tai esechho niche/amai noile tribhubaneshwar tomar prem hoto je michhe”, where indeed the devotee claims that God (Prabhu) intensely yearns or longs for him/her.

The plenitude of the Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita derives also from the wide and rich range of Thakur’s interactions with various classes and kinds of devotees. It is beyond the purview of this review to provide detailed references to all such conversations quoted in Sri Ramakrishna on Himself. The book contains the most significant excerpts from Thakur’s interactions with Narendranath, Sarat, Sashi, Tarak, Baburam, Nirnajan, who later became Swamis,Vivekananda, Saradananda, Ramakrishnananda, Shivananda, Premananda and Niranjanananda. Sri Ramakrishna’s conversations and interchanges with Girish Ghosh, Kalipada Ghosh, Devendranath Mazumdar, Adhar Lal Sen and others, provide unforgettable moments when love, spirituality, historical context and dramatic encounter, constantly and richly interface